TACLOBAN CITY – A delegation composed of 16 members coming from various provinces in Luzon and Mindanao, where the foreign non-government organization German International Cooperation is operating, had visited Leyte for its implementation of the local flood early warning system.
The group was welcomed by Board Member Roque Tiu during their courtesy call at the provincial capitol where he gladly answered questions of delegate members.
A local flood early warning system was installed by the GIZ at the Binahaan River in San Joaquin, Palo.
In their discussion, Tiu stressed the importance of cooperation between the local government units and their constituents for the success of the program.
“The local government units must learn on how to make their people have the sense of ownership and learn how to encourage them to cooperate in this kind of project because this does not only provide us warning but also enables us to save lives,” Tiu said.
Tiu added that mayors must also learn on how to be receptive in implementing flood control program projects just like what the local government chief executives of Palo, Pastrana and Dagami did when the GIZ installed the warning system at the Binahaan River.
He also underscored the importance of the role provincial government in harmonizing local chief executives in order to have a smooth project implementation.
Allen Molen, GIZ senior adviser, added that the organization was lucky for the support extended by the provincial government and the mayors of different towns on their projects, including the early warning system.
“Trying to convince LGU to support us is really a challenge and selling this kind of idea is very hard, but in our talks we always emphasize the value of life which is more important than the value of material things,” Molen said, adding that community participation is also a must aside from the support of the LGU officials.
Moreover, Molen also stressed the importance of media participation in disaster and calamities as media practitioners serve as the bridge of communication to disseminate warnings and information to ground level or the greater number of people.
“It is better if the local government units and the national agencies had better ties with media because they can send information immediately that can reach people in the right time before any disaster like floods reaches their areas.
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