CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
NO HOLDS BARRED (038) October 27, 2009
By Ike Señeres
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
No less than MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando has confirmed my earlier prediction that the deaths from diseases resulting from the floods will exceed the number of deaths due to drowning during the actual disaster itself. Chairman Fernando has apparently gained some brownie points by being active in the rescue and relief operations, but will he be able to get himself off the hook amidst accusations that he was the one who allegedly approved the building permits of structures in Marikina when he was the Mayor there, structures that are said to have caused the worsening of the impact of the floods?
In the midst of the excitement and confusion over the effects of the floods, Fernando might have suffered a slip of his tongue when he told the story about his daughter being stranded in her steel fabrication factory. Could it possibly be the same factory that is now supplying the MMDA with most of its steel structures? If the answer is yes, then he might have just implicated himself in a case of conflict of interest. The conflict might just be a classic example of what the national democrats have been referring to as plain old bureaucrat capitalism.
Aside from the conflict of interest, Fernando should also explain what he meant by his earlier claim that he has already solved the flooding problem in Metro Manila, after spending billions of public funds and foreign donations to supposedly solve the problem. Is this the way we are going to let things happen in this country? That public officials could just make claims without having to account for it whether it is true or not?
Many Mayors also gained brownie points during the rescue and relief, but are their public expressions of helping the victims enough to get them off the hook for not complying with the laws that require them to implement waste segregation programs on top of putting up Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs)? Since the proof of the pudding is in the eating, Mayors who have not implemented the Solid Waste Management laws should be sued.
It would not be difficult to gather the evidence that is needed to file cases against these Mayors. No MRF is proof enough that they have not complied. Having trucks that transport garbage to dumpsites is also proof that they have not implemented waste segregation programs. While we are on this subject, I would like to again stress my point that a dumpsite is not the same as a landfill, not that I favor the building of landfills. If only the Mayors could build MRFs instead, there will be no need for landfills.
Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) are now the twin challenges that are facing the Mayors and Governors all over the country. While we are all captivated by the issue of election automation, we should pause for a minute to think about the automation of CCA and DRR programs as well, starting with the gathering of demographic and topographic data at the smallest village levels.
Not much thinking is needed in the automation of climate and disaster programs. It is already obvious that local authorities should put up Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). While they are at it, they should enhance these systems with Short Messaging Systems (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Systems (MMS), to make these systems accessible to the millions of cell phone users.
It is a known fact that the topographic data that is now available in this country cover only broad areas that do not reflect the realities at the smallest village levels. It is about time that the local and national authorities start drilling down the data to the square meter level, to have the realistic basis to plan CCA and DRR programs. It is also about time that the task of data gathering should move down to the local authorities, at the same time requiring the national authorities to consolidate and integrate the local data.
What are we going to do with the human settlements that are now known to be in Low Elevation Coastal Zones (LECZs)? Are we going to drive out the people from these settlements? Since it is apparently too late to do that, we should look into the idea of using engineering sciences to remediate the topographies in these places; similar to what was done in the Netherlands, a country that is actually below sea level. With the elections coming, we should only vote for the candidates who will be capable of implementing CCA and DRR programs, no matter what political party they come from.
Watch my business show 9:00 am to 1:00 pm in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 21 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639293605140 for local cable listings. Visit senseneres@blogspot.com
By Ike Señeres
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
No less than MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando has confirmed my earlier prediction that the deaths from diseases resulting from the floods will exceed the number of deaths due to drowning during the actual disaster itself. Chairman Fernando has apparently gained some brownie points by being active in the rescue and relief operations, but will he be able to get himself off the hook amidst accusations that he was the one who allegedly approved the building permits of structures in Marikina when he was the Mayor there, structures that are said to have caused the worsening of the impact of the floods?
In the midst of the excitement and confusion over the effects of the floods, Fernando might have suffered a slip of his tongue when he told the story about his daughter being stranded in her steel fabrication factory. Could it possibly be the same factory that is now supplying the MMDA with most of its steel structures? If the answer is yes, then he might have just implicated himself in a case of conflict of interest. The conflict might just be a classic example of what the national democrats have been referring to as plain old bureaucrat capitalism.
Aside from the conflict of interest, Fernando should also explain what he meant by his earlier claim that he has already solved the flooding problem in Metro Manila, after spending billions of public funds and foreign donations to supposedly solve the problem. Is this the way we are going to let things happen in this country? That public officials could just make claims without having to account for it whether it is true or not?
Many Mayors also gained brownie points during the rescue and relief, but are their public expressions of helping the victims enough to get them off the hook for not complying with the laws that require them to implement waste segregation programs on top of putting up Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs)? Since the proof of the pudding is in the eating, Mayors who have not implemented the Solid Waste Management laws should be sued.
It would not be difficult to gather the evidence that is needed to file cases against these Mayors. No MRF is proof enough that they have not complied. Having trucks that transport garbage to dumpsites is also proof that they have not implemented waste segregation programs. While we are on this subject, I would like to again stress my point that a dumpsite is not the same as a landfill, not that I favor the building of landfills. If only the Mayors could build MRFs instead, there will be no need for landfills.
Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) are now the twin challenges that are facing the Mayors and Governors all over the country. While we are all captivated by the issue of election automation, we should pause for a minute to think about the automation of CCA and DRR programs as well, starting with the gathering of demographic and topographic data at the smallest village levels.
Not much thinking is needed in the automation of climate and disaster programs. It is already obvious that local authorities should put up Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). While they are at it, they should enhance these systems with Short Messaging Systems (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Systems (MMS), to make these systems accessible to the millions of cell phone users.
It is a known fact that the topographic data that is now available in this country cover only broad areas that do not reflect the realities at the smallest village levels. It is about time that the local and national authorities start drilling down the data to the square meter level, to have the realistic basis to plan CCA and DRR programs. It is also about time that the task of data gathering should move down to the local authorities, at the same time requiring the national authorities to consolidate and integrate the local data.
What are we going to do with the human settlements that are now known to be in Low Elevation Coastal Zones (LECZs)? Are we going to drive out the people from these settlements? Since it is apparently too late to do that, we should look into the idea of using engineering sciences to remediate the topographies in these places; similar to what was done in the Netherlands, a country that is actually below sea level. With the elections coming, we should only vote for the candidates who will be capable of implementing CCA and DRR programs, no matter what political party they come from.
Watch my business show 9:00 am to 1:00 pm in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 21 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639293605140 for local cable listings. Visit senseneres@blogspot.com
posted by Ike Señeres at 9:36 AM
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