SMC to submit $2-B flood control plan this month

MANILA, Philippines -  Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) plans to submit to the government this month the proposed $2 billion project which seeks to prevent massive flooding in Metro Manila.

“I think the technical side has been done so, maybe within this month, we can submit the proposal,” SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang told reporters.

The project would involve the construction of a spillway to take the water flowing from Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay.

It will likewise have a waste-to-energy component.

SMC intends to tap a technical partner for the project.

Ang said earlier the project is necessary to prevent massive flooding in Metro Manila during the rainy season.

“The benefit of this project to our nation will be immense because flooding will be gone and at the same time the government, instead of paying me for what I will spend, will simply have to give me rights to use the materials, the garbage there,” Ang said.

SMC, through a consortium composed of its unit San Miguel Holdings Corp. (SMHC) and New San Jose Builders Inc. (NSJBI), earlier submitted a P400 billion flood control and expressway proposal to the government.

The project covers financing, design and construction of the city flood control in the coastal waters in Navotas City, as well as a coastal sea barrier through the northern part of Manila Bay covering the coastal areas of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan.

It will also involve linking Bataan with Metro Manila and providing direct access to the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga with a concession period of 50 years.

NSJBI first proposed the project in November 2013.

The name of the proponent was changed to Coastal Development Consortium in 2015 as SMC’s SMHC partnered with NSJBI for the project.

Apart from infrastructure, SMC is involved in other businesses such as food, fuel and oil, power, beer, liquor and packaging.