THE Cebu Provincial Board (PB) passed a resolution on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, that called on the Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH 7) to implement the Metro Cebu Integrated Flood and Drainage System project to address Cebu’s worsening flood problem during downpours.The resolution was authored by PB Member Glenn Anthony Soco of the sixth district.The PB explained that it has long been known that flooding can be attributed to the lack of drainage outlets, swollen waterways and natural depressions in urban and rural areas.“It is strongly requested that the flood and drainage project be prioritized and be given special focus as the evils that flooding cause are now felt and experienced by Cebuanos in an extremely alarming recurrence in the past months. Torrential rains had caused property damage to several local government units in Cebu,” Soco said in his resolution.He also pointed out that the delay in the implementation of the project can be blamed on the lack of funding.The Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC) had passed Resolution 17 (S. 2020) requesting additional funding for the project.It asked the DPWH to “facilitate the speedy downloading of the budget appropriated and intended for said plan.”“This Body earnestly requests that DPWH would promptly look on the expeditious completion of the project, which had been planned for several years. Apart from budgetary constraints, the agency is likewise urged to look into other causes in the delay of its implementation and provide for solutions to the same,” it said.The DPWH 7 earlier said the implementation of the P648 million project contract for the river engineering intervention in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue is 95.5 percent complete.Meanwhile, the dredging of seven Metro Cebu rivers is ongoing.