WITH geo-hazard maps may be available to some Municipal Planning and Development Officers, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) wants it available to all local government units here.
According to Vice Governor Julius Caesar Herrera, the move is crucial so as to allow local governments to be aware of hazard prone areas in their responsibility and base their land use plans on the inputs.
He added that the legislative body acknowledges the urgency of allowing the information to seep into every community to better prepare the people of any hazard coming their way.
On the alleged poor government reaction to the flash floods that caught Metro Manila residents by surprise last week, Herrera said people must know what are the risks coming to them.
In a resolution introduced by Herrera and approved en masse, the legislative body directs the at least three local government agencies to make the geo hazard maps available to all local government units in Bohol.
The Philippine Institute of Vulcanology and Seismology (PhiVolcs) and the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) with Bohol Disaster and Coordinating Council jointly undertook the Ready project in 1997.
The project allowed Bohol towns to have geo-hazard maps and even trained local government officials in emergency responses to disasters.
The hazard maps however are confined only at the municipal planning and development offices in some towns, revealed PDCC Action Officer Lt. Col Raul Mendez in an interview.
Over this, the SP asks the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the local Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) and the PhiVolcs to institute joint efforts to urgently produce the geo-hazard maps and make them available to LGUs.
Herrera said the DENR secretary has revealed on national television that they are on the process of preparing the maps that would identify hazardous geographical locations prone to floods, landslides, earthquake fault-lines. (PIA)
