The much needed radar station to better forecast typhoons will soon be erected in the province.

PAG-ASA Administrator Vicente Malano confirmed the construction to commence this year during a meeting of the  Provincial Development Council (PDC) presided by Gov. Edgar Chatto who expressed elation on the said commitment.

Administrator Malano who hails from Albur town blew into town last Wednesday in time also for the  class reunion attended by his wife, the former Milet Samar who is also a Boholana.

Similar existing radars are located in Tagaytay, Hinatuan, Tampakan, Subic, Virac, Cebu, Baler, Baguio, Aparri, and Guiuan.

Three are currently under construction in Zamboanga, Busuanga and Baguio.

PAG-ASA, he said, has three existing X-Band radars; one acquired in 2014, and the other two were acquired by the agency in 2015.

The proposed Doppler radar in Albur would be ten-storey high, as designed by the agency’s experts, Adm. Malano proudly said.

PAG-ASA, Malano said, would also be putting up a Deployment of Early Warning System (DEWS) Project but in the flood-prone areas in the Inabanga River Basin and Loboc River Basin.

The projects, he further admitted, would cost the national government around P100M.

Meanwhile, PHIVOLCS, on the other hand, is currently commissioning another seismic station in Bohol, this time in Barangay Ulbujan in Garcia-Hernandez, as an additional earthquake monitoring system.

The first one, which was just recently completed, is situated in Garcia Park in Talibon.

Both projects have an estimated cost of P3.5M each.

Twenty national government agencies presented their budget proposals for 2017 to the PDC, all of which were duly approved and would be properly endorsed during the upcoming meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) with Cebu Governor Hilario Davide, Jr. as Chair. (JLV/PGBh/EDCom)