By RALPH JOHN MIJARES
ROXAS City — Traders from Barangay Old Guia in Maayon town were finding difficulty crossing the Maayon River once the sluiceway gate of the irrigation dam in Barangay Jebaca closes.
The river water level rises by one meter, preventing huge vehicles carrying goods from getting across, Mayor Wilfredo Borres said.
For vendors in the village, this makes bringing their goods to other parts of Capiz difficult, said Old Guia barangay captain Marilyn Abuniawan.
There is no alternative route; a hanging bridge nearby cannot support the weight of trucks being used to carry the goods, she said.
Old Guia village councilman Ramonito Soberano said the problem also affects emergency response and bringing the villagers’ dead to the cemetery.
Abuniawan last week wrote the Provincial Board about their problem, suggesting that a bridge could solve it.
The opening and closing of the sluiceway gate affects the water level in Maayon River, Engr. Efren Bigcas of the National Irrigation Administration admitted.
Opening the sluiceway gate a day before “market day” can be a short-term solution, said Vice Gov. Esteban Evan Contreras, who went to the area yesterday along with Provincial Board members Eduardo Magallanes and Enrique Martin.
For the long term, a spillway, which costs about P4 million, may be built. It is a more affordable alternative to a bridge, which costs some P50 million, Contreras said.
He said he will inform Gov. Victor Tanco Sr., 1st District Rep. Antonio del Rosario, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas about this.
Seven barangays in Maayon and two in Panitan benefit from the irrigation, Contreras said./PN
