NIA forms team to tend to storm damage

The National Irrigation Administration has formed its own “Task Force Pablo” to address the lingering effects on infrastructure of the said typhoon that hit Mindanao in December 2012.

In a statement, the NIA said it was expecting to spend P1 billion for the restoration of irrigation facilities that were damaged by the typhoon.

Damage to agricultural infrastructure in the wake of Pablo was blamed for the NIA’s failure to meets its goal on irrigation coverage, which led to the replacement of the agency’s chief earlier this year.

According to the NIA, it has released an additional P500 million and the Department of Budget and Management is expected to provide the same amount for its projects.

The NIA’s task force is scheduled to spend four days up to December 30 in the Davao region to look into the progress of the projects implemented related to Pablo.

Also, the NIA is implementing a reshuffle of four irrigation management officers “so as not to be biased in the conduct of validation.”

Headed by NIA chief Claro Maranan, the team’s efforts also cover Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen and Caraga regions.

A multi-agency task force of the same name, led by the Department of Public Works and Highways, was formed earlier this year to help in the rehabilitation of communities affected by what is considered the strongest typhoon that hit Mindanao in the past 20 years.

In a related development,  Agriculture Undersecretary Dante S. Delima earlier said the estimated damage to irrigation facilities brought about by resulting the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” was slashed by P461 million to  P212.7 million as most of these turned out to be ready for restoration.

Delima said subsequent validation of data, which the DA field workers submitted during the first few weeks since Yolanda made landfall, showed that damage was much less than the earlier estimate of P674 million.

“Many of the irrigation facilities were found to be heavily silted but not damaged, so they can be easily restored without the need for the amount that was previously reported,” said Delima.