Fear of the dengue virus continues to grip a Tagbilaran village after a promised assistance from the city government to battle flooding which has been linked to rampant cases of the dreaded disease in the area remains undelivered.

A total of 20 dengue cases including one which claimed the life of a former city councilor’s infant grandchild have been recorded in flood-prone Capitol Valley.

The high incidence of the disease has been linked to puddles of mud and water that emerge due to rains along a dirt road that cuts across the neighborhood prompting city officials to offer aid.

Engineer Pianicita Castolo, chief of the City Engineering Office, had promised to deploy a pumping unit which would suck out floodwaters in the area.

However, former councilor Jerry Pabe, a resident of the subdivision whose 2-year-old grandson succumbed to dengue on November 20, said that help has not arrived.

Pabe told DYRD Balita on Monday that there has been no notice from the City Engineering Office informing them of when the equipment would be available while rains still inundate the neighborhood.

He said that residents have also been hopeful that promised aid from the private sector would also arrive soon.

Several groups had vowed to extend help in building a temporary drainage system for the neighborhood.

But until now, Pabe and other residents are still left with only their hopes that cases of the mosquito-borne disease do not continue rise in Capitol Valley.

For its part, the City Health Office provided chemicals for treating floodwaters and killing dengue-infected mosquitoes to the subdivision.

City officials led by Mayor John Geesnell Yap are also set to meet on Sunday to come up with measures addressing Capitol Valley’s longstanding problem.

Previously, the city government had noted that it is unable to allocate funds for the development of the road as officials pointed out that appropriating money from government coffers for the improvement of a privately owned structure would raise questions from the Commission on Audit.

Meanwhile, incomplete documents and unpaid dues from residents of the subdivision are preventing the turnover of the lot to the city government. (Allen Doydora)