$500-M flood control project starts this month

The first Philippine project partly financed by China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is expected to start implementation this month, the Department of Finance said Tuesday.

In a statement, the DOF said the government would begin work on the $500-million Metro Manila Flood Control Management Project to be jointly implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Metro Manila Development Authority within the month.

In September last year, the AIIB and the World Bank approved their respective loans of $207.6 million each for the said project.

The remaining $84.7 million will come from the government.

Project implementation will be supported by the National Housing Authority, the Social Housing Finance Corp. and local government units.

It was aimed for completion in 2024.

The AIIB had said the project would improve 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.”

According to the AIIB, this project “will focus on about 56 potentially critical drainage areas with land area of about 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,” according to the AIIB.

Specifically, the project will modernize 36 existing pumping stations on top of building 20 new ones; minimize solid waste dumped in waterways, and provide housing to resettle affected individuals and communities.