CEBU CITY: The city government here is speeding up efforts to clear rivers of silts and sludge buildup to pave the way for the creation of river parks to sustain anti-flooding activities, an official said on Wednesday. Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said the cleaning of the rivers in the city begins last week of August to give the Task Force Gubat sa Baha ample time to plot the initiatives to create river parks around the capital to ensure community involvement in addressing the flooding problem. Garcia said a siphoning machine from the private firm, Innomech Tooling and Engineering Services, was tested at the Estero de Parian on Tuesday. "We have witnessed the capabilities of the machine," he said, adding that it could gather tons of silts that cannot be collected manually. Garcia said the private engineering firm would conduct massive dredging operations in all the tributaries in the city as the city plans to transform them into river parks where people could have picnics and gatherings. The city go vernment is set to sign a service contract with the equipment provider soon for the massive cleaning and dredging of the city rivers. Source: Philippines News Agency