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THE board of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)
has approved a multi-billion-peso project that will improve water
quality at the Pasig River, reduce health risks and enhance ferry
transportation operations in the area.
Costing about P5.04 billion, the Pasig River
Dredging Project involves the removal and containment of an
estimated 2.83 million cubic meters of debris/sediment materials in
the river covering a 17-kilometer stretch, extending 2 kilometers
into Manila Bay from Del Pan Bridge to the Napindan Hydraulic Flood
Control Gate.
Of the total cost, 89.29 percent will be
funded by the Belgian Super Subsidy Facility, a soft loan governed
and financed by the Belgian government. The remaining P539.85
million will represent the Philippine government’s counterpart.
The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission will
implement the project, which is divided into three components to be
implemented over a three-year period, starting from second quarter
of this year until 2011.
The NEDA said the project is in line with
the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan 2004 to 2010 to create a
healthier environment for the population through improving water
quality in the Pasig River.
“It is also supportive of the thrust to
mitigate the occurrence of natural disasters through the
implementation of structural measures such as keeping at the optimum
the conveyance capacities of existing river channel floodways
through dredging and desiltation,” the agency said.
The project is included in the 2007 to 2010
Comprehensive and Integrated Infrastructure Program, a list of
projects submitted to foreign donors for co-financing.
The NEDA said the project will complement the
ongoing Pasig River Environmental Management and Rehabilitation
Sector Development Program and the proposed Treatment of Major and
Minor Esteros and Tributaries Project. Both projects aim to improve
water quality of the Pasig River.
-- Darwin G. Amojelar
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