Leyte to build more climate change adaptation roads

TACLOBAN CITY, July 18 -- The Leyte provincial government will build more roads perpendicular to the primary highway as part of the climate change adaptation strategy.

Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said on Tuesday that under the 2018 Annual Investment Plan, the local government will build or upgrade roads from coastal areas leading to higher grounds.

“These perpendicular roads will provide easier access to safer grounds in the event of natural calamities such as tsunami and sea level rise,” Petilla told reporters.

Among the newly-upgraded climate change adaptation roads are in San Jose village in Dulag town and in Telegrafo village in Tolosa town.

Building these kind of roads will be prioritized in the tsunami-prone communities of Palo, Tanauan, Tolosa, Dulag, Mayorga, MacArthur, and Abuyog towns. These areas have been identified as highly-vulnerable to sea level rise and face the Pacific Ocean.

Aside from the perpendicular roads, the local government is also pushing for the construction of roads parallel to the existing national highway but farther from the shoreline.

“By constructing parallel roads, this will encourage people to build houses and establish businesses away from danger zones,” Petilla said.

Several infrastructure projects have been lined up in the province under the disaster risk reduction (DRR) climate change adaptation-enhanced and the provincial development investment program of Leyte province for 2017 to 2022.

This initiative is based on the guidelines on mainstreaming DRR in sub-national development and land use planning, which was published by the National Economic Development Authority, Asian Development Bank, and the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid. (SQM/PNA)