Protests rage over river widening

Posted on June 8, 2004 - Filed Under News |

 

URDANETA—The plan to restore the Macalong river to its original width is being torpedoed  by a some owners of  commercial establishments and residential houses in area.

According to Mayor Amadeo Perez, Jr.,  while a number of  property owners responded favorably to a letter sent to them by the city engineer’s office for them to remove the extension of their structures abutting the river, others were visibly resisting.

The mayor hailed the planned widening of the Macalong river through a program initiated by Rep. Mark Cojuangco of  the fifth district of  Pangasinan, saying this will go a long way in abate flooding in the city’s central business.

Rep. Cojuangco secured P5 million budget for the project which is due for release shortly. The city government is cooperating in this venture by asking the owners of properties adjacent to the Macalong river  to give way to the project.

Over the years, Perez said, owners of buildings and residential houses over-extended their structures on portions of the Macalong river, making the river narrower and shallower.

Perez called on the resisting property owners to cooperate because the novel project will redound not only to their benefits but for the benefit of the general public in Urdaneta.

He recalled that  last year’s flood was the worst that ever hit Urdaneta when the central business district was inundated for days, with run-off water subsiding very slowly because the span of the Macalong river has narrowed greatly providing very little carrying capacity.

At the same time, Perez announced that the much-awaited widening of a portion of the MacArthur highway is starting very shortly.

The Department of Public Works and Highways has already compensated a lot of property owners for them to move their buildings and residential houses few meters back from the highway.

The widening project will take the place of a flyover which was originally proposed on the same stretch of the Mac Arthur highway.

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