Malabon officials fear the deferment of the completion of the Mega Flood Control Project in the Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela area will mean continued floods in low-lying areas in the city.

Malabon City Engineer Ulysses Tumbocon, who is also an official of the Mega Flood Control Technical Committee formed by Mayor Tito Oreta, said the implementation might even be extended until 2011 as a result of the failure of the DPWH to complete the project on time.

In a monthly meeting called by the RDC presided by Mayor Gatchalian in Quezon City three weeks ago, the RDC, based on the recommendation of the affected local government units denied the request of the DPWH for an additional P900 million fund for the remaining portion of the unfinished projects.

Tumbocon cited the report of the DPWH that the project is about “88 percent complete.”

Based on the contract the DPWH was to turn over the operations of the project to the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as soon as the project was completed.

“It will be the CAMANAVA (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela) area, especially Malabon City which will suffer most if the project will not be implemented on time,” the city official said.

In the recent RDC meeting, the local government representatives claimed that unless the DPWH substantially explained how the allotted fund was spent, the RDC will block the release of the additional P900-M fund and further delay the completion of the project.

“They are asking for an additional budget and yet, they cannot explain substantially why the project remain unfinished despite the huge amount of money," Tumbocon said.

“We will not approve, we will defer the release of the additional funds pending sufficient explanation on how the budget was spent,” Tumbocon said.

“Humihingi sila ng additional na pondo pero wala silang timetable or planning,” Tumbocon said.

He said, “The project was supposed to be completed by 2003, but it was extended to 2007. Ngayon 2010 na, by 2011 dapat tapos na yan. Masyado nang matagal. Nagli-linger na.”