Noy visits infra projects in Central Luzon

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines — Nearing the last month of his administration, President Aquino spent the entire day yesterday visiting major projects in Central Luzon.

The President visited a project in Ipo Dam in Bulacan that would improve Metro Manila’s potable water supply, another project at the Balog-Balog Dam in his home province of Tarlac that would boost local farm irrigation, and a solar farm in Cabanatuan City.

At the Ipo Dam, the President unveiled the P3.3-billion water transmission project that would improve the delivery of water from Bulacan to Metro Manila through the upgrading of a decades-old tunnel from Ipo to Angat dams, the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) said.

The so-called Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project (AWTIP) in Ipo Dam, located in Norzagaray, is a project of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).

The MWSS said the project involves the design and construction of a new tunnel, called Tunnel No. 4, which is necessary to mitigate the risk of disruption of water supply to Metro Manila.

Expected to be finished by 2020, AWTIP aims to ensure sustained and secured water supply for Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan and portions of Cavite, that would benefit an estimated 14 million people, MWSS said.

MWSS said that “the present water transmission system’s main components are roughly 75 years old, in poor condition and most likely not compliant with current structural and seismic requirements.”

Through funding from the Asian Development Bank, Tunnel 4 would provide redundancy and allow the rehabilitation work on the raw water transmission system and ensure sustainable provision of water supply, it added.

In San Jose, Tarlac, the President launched the Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project Phase II (BBMP II).

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said BBMP II involves the construction of an earth-fill dam at the upper Bulsa River as well as irrigation canals and structures.

“It will provide irrigation services to 21,935 hectares of new areas as well as stabilize irrigation supply to the existing 12,475 hectares service area of BBMP Phase I for a total service area of 34,410 hectares at full development,” NIA said.

An estimated 23,000 farmers from the towns of Paniqui, Pura, Ramos, Victoria, Gerona, San Jose, La Paz, Capas and Concepcion and Tarlac City would benefit from the project.

“BBMP II will also be utilized for flood control, inland fish production and potential power generation of 43.5 megawatts,” NIA reported.

In Cabanatuan City, the President inaugurated the 10-megawatt solar farm project of the First Cabanatuan Renewable Venture Inc. (FCRVI) in Barangay Lourdes.