This is a classic lack of community involvement.

A road in the privately owned Capitol Valley Subdivision, this city has long been awaited to be donated to the city government in order for governance to legitimize the appropriation of funds for its development.

However, for years already, residents could not be united as one in preparing the documents for the donation of the lot while the road gets converted into a muddy ‘fish pond’ during heavy downpour. This was how dirty the area was- two weeks ago as two of the subdivision’s young residents were rushed to the hospital after having been inflicted with dengue fever.

One of the two was 2-year old Travis Zacary C. Pabe who died last Sunday despite being transferred to Chung Hua Hospital in Cebu City. The child was admitted at the Ramiro Hospital three days earlier but was advised to be transferred to a Cebu hospital by the attending pediatrician. Two days later, he died.

While the remains of the infant Pabe gets nightly vigil from family members and friends, some subdivision residents saw the crew of the City Engineering’s office starting to pour limestone to fill up the muddy road.

“It was too late,” former City Kagawad Jerry Pabe, grandpa of the deceased

However, he said, the city government could not be blamed for its delayed action since for more than a year now, residents were not united enough to move fast in the documentation for the deed of donation of the affected lots. In fact, he sponsored the appropriation of the budget for the road concreting while he was still serving as city lawmaker.

The sad plight of the unattended road was highlighted in the front page of The Bohol Chronicle last Sunday calling for government action in order to clean up the area as residents recalled there were 20 subdivision residents who were hospitalized due to dengue fever. The following day, crew from the City Engineers Office was personally deployed by Mayor John Geesnell Yap.

In a press statement through the office of City Administrator Edi Borja, the city mayor urged homeowners to submit the deed of donation at the soonest possible time in order for the city government to do road concreting as a long term solution to the problem.