China-led AIIB to lend $207.6M for MM’s flood control

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is cofinancing the $500-million (about P25.5 billion) Metro Manila Flood Management Project, the first loan that the China-led development bank is extending to the Philippines.

The AIIB board on Sept. 27 gave its go-ahead for a $207.63-million (P10.6 billion) share in financing the project aimed at improving flood management in the National Capital Region by “constructing new and modernizing existing pumping stations and their supporting infrastructure, by improving solid waste management practices within the vicinity of drainage systems served by the selected pumping stations, and by supporting the resettlement of impacted individuals.”

The World Bank will lend $207.63 million for the project, while the remaining $84.74 million will be shouldered by the national government, AIIB documents showed.

According to the AIIB, this project “will focus on about 56 potentially critical drainage areas with an approximate land area of 11,100 hectares or over 17 percent of the total area of Metro Manila.”

“This will include an area covered by new pumping stations of about 2,900 hectares, with a total population of about 970,000 people or about 210,000 households,” the AIIB added.

The project is aimed for completion in May 2024, according to the AIIB. —BEN O. DE VERA