Dear Mr. President:
I beg to disagree with those who have already said that there is no solution to
the problem of flooding and that the government could no longer do anything
about it. I believe in the saying that for every problem, there is always a
solution. Otherwise, mathematically speaking, it is not even a problem if it
could not be solved.
While it could be said that no country could claim that they have
completely solved the problem of flooding, there are four countries that could
rightfully claim that they have controlled flooding to a manageable level,
which is good enough, I think.
To be fair, Mr. President, our people are not really expecting
the government to end flooding once and for all. As it is written in our laws
and in our budget appropriations, our objective is simply to control the
floods, hence the so-called “flood control” projects. I think that in terms of
public opinion, the public does not really mind seeing a few inches of flood
water every now and then, if it does not stay too long and as long as it does
not become too deep. That I think, is the layman interpretation of “flood
control”.
In the case of the Netherlands, they are renowned for their
advanced flood management systems. They have implemented an extensive network
of dikes, levees and storm surge barriers. These measures have greatly reduced
the risk of flooding in that country, according to Microsoft Copilot. Most of
these measures were built in Amsterdam, their capital city.
In the case of Japan, they have invested heavily in flood control
infrastructure and early warning systems. They have constructed numerous dams,
reservoirs and river embankments to manage flood waters. According to Copilot,
they also have sophisticated meteorological technology that “helps provide
early warning” to their citizens. I think that Japan is primarily afraid of
earthquakes, but they know that floods could also happen along with
earthquakes.
In the case of Singapore, they have adopted a comprehensive
approach to flood management, through infrastructure systems that include
drainage canals, storm water collection ponds and pumping stations. Aside from
that, they also have advanced technologies to monitor and predict flood risks.
If I am not mistaken, they are probably using sensors for data gathering along
with data analytics.
In the case of South Korea, they have implemented flood
management technologies such as the construction of reservoirs (like Japan has
done) and flood control dams (also like Japan has done). They also focused on
urban planning and green infrastructure to reduce the impact of floods. Most
likely, their reservoirs could be connected to their dams.
In all the four countries that I named, the availability of
efficient garbage collection was not mentioned, because I think that is a
given, meaning that it is not a problem for them, as it is ours. The
availability of sewerage systems was also not mentioned, because I also think
that is not a problem for them, as it is to us. Both told, we have two more
problems that the four countries do not have. Mr. President, I still have faith
that whatever these four countries have done to solve the problem of flooding
in their cities, we could also do. For sure, we do not lack the good engineers
that we need to build the infrastructure that we need. We could not discount
the possibility that some of these projects could still fall victim to
corruption, but perhaps, public vigilance plus your direct supervision could
minimize it. And if you will need computer science to solve the problem of
flooding, our group of volunteers is ready to help.
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