The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, other foreign and local banks have been supporting the country with multi-billion dollar projects and programs for development. Ultimately, we know that these are all converted to loans and will be eventually paid by the taxpayer.
The frustrating side of every public project or program is its sustainability. Infrastructure projects to build roads and bridges, set up electricity or water pipes in remote areas – more often than not, are not completed on time. Sometimes, when corruption comes into play, you will see that a project created to build a bridge was unnecessary because there was no river after all, to traverse in the first place.
Some projects have to do with poverty reduction, rural development, renewable energy development, mass transport systems, waste management, flood management and disaster risk management programs.
The success of a project can be measured when the community or the country has benefitted from it; when it becomes functional and useful. A failed project clearly becomes a “white elephant” – expensive and useless.
Remember the Bataan Power Plant built in the seventies? A US company, Westinghouse, spearheaded the nuclear reactor construction. It was designed to produce 621 megawatts of electricity. The project was completed in 1984, with the actual cost of $2.3 billion. We continued paying for it until 2007. What happened? We never used it.
The megadike projects around the country have always been controversial because of the high cost and maintenance fees. The Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) flood control and drainage improvement project for instance was not much of a big help to eliminate the flooding problem in the area.
The 60-hectare Expo Pilipino project for Clark field in Pampanga, which had an amphitheater and a Spanish colonial plaza with a replica of the Barasoain Church is now a ghost town.
When projects are initiated, thorough studies have to be made and professional groups specializing in the field need to be tapped. Unfortunately, nowadays companies are formed at the onset of a project to seal the deal – a very clear form of corruption.
The Department of Science and Technology takes the lead in projects that have to do with scientific and technological advancement to make life easier and more comfortable for Filipinos. The PNR hybrid trains are examples of such projects which allowed a faster and cheaper way of travelling to different provinces. Another pilot project was the “monorail” train system done in the University of the Philippines, Diliman campus. But what happened to this project? I’d like to believe that it is still a work in progress. This is an opportunity for the students to find ways to make it useful. Did they lack support? Did they lack funding? Did they lack the expertise in setting the monorail up?
By the way, the University of the Philippines is home to many scientists, engineers, researchers not to mention educators, lawyers, artists, etc. Being the top university of the country, many studies and grants have been given to the different departments of the university. One recent project to note is “Project Noah.”
Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards), was commissioned by the DOST and was launched in 2012 to help strengthen the country’s disaster mitigation capabilities through data modeling technologies. Then President Noynoy Aquino was frustrated with PAGASA’s services to the country. He tasked the DOST to put in place a responsive program for disaster prevention and mitigation, warning agencies to be able to provide a 6-hour lead-time warning to vulnerable communities against impending floods and to use advanced technology to enhance current geo-hazard vulnerability maps.
Dr. Alfredo Mahar Lagmay is known in the field of geology. He is the best geologist in the Philippines. He is an “Iskolar ng Bayan” and holds a PhD in geology from the University of Cambridge. He has received many international recognitions for his work amongst which is the European Geoscience Award for his outstanding work on volcanic hazards, earthquakes, typhoons, landslides, and floods. He put up his team of UP scientists, geologists, IT staff and researchers and went straight to work. NOAH’s mission was to undertake disaster science research and development, advance the use of cutting edge technologies and recommend innovative information services in government’s disaster prevention and mitigation efforts.
This is a good model of projects done by people who specialize in the field and know what they are doing. More important is that is it attached to an academic institution, the prime university of the land (where scholars learn, study and continue research for advancement) to ensure its preservation, sustainability and continuity.
I remember in 2014 after Project Noah was launched in Marikina, I started using its application. It was the first time citizens had access to information that PAGASA failed to provide. If you needed any information from PAGASA you will have to go to their office to get it. Susmariosep! Which by the way, is a common practice in many government offices. In fact, to this day, government practices a “close data policy” for public information that should be free or ‘open’.
With Project Noah things changed. We had access to data that was never shared to citizens before. Even PAGASA changed. They were challenged by the new systems put in by Dr. Lagmay including his “open data” policy. The use of science and technology for once evolved in this country. True to its commitment, the Project harnessed technologies and management services for disaster risk reduction activities offered by the DOST through PAGASA, PHIVOLCS, and the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), in partnership with the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences and the UP College of Engineering.
Project NOAH was originally set to end in 2016, but was extended to February 28 this year. The commissioned work is completed and it will be absorbed by PAGASA. The problem now lies in the ability of PAGASA to continue the program which has benefitted many Filipinos.
Does PAGASA have the skill and capability to take over Team Noah’s research tools and technologies? Two years ago, in January 2015, Project NOAH already transferred its deliverables. Did PAGASA ever use these products and technologies? The answer is no. PAGASA did not even use them in NDRRMC or any other bulletins. Trainings were said to be conducted but still PAGASA did not use the NOAH output.
This is an example of a project that clearly became useful to the nation. It should contribute to the advancement of PAGASA and not be set aside. I am worried because Filipinos have a very bad mentality of always wanting to create new projects to be the ‘star for all seasons’. Presidents, cabinet secretaries and mayors come and go, and instead of continuing / improving programs, they make new ones – worsening and delaying the development that the country badly needs.
Project NOAH must be institutionalized to ensure that the critical service it delivers will not be terminated. According to AGHAM (Advocates of Science and Technology for the People), the Project must be permanently funded by government and should be integrated as a regular function of a specific agency to have more defined objectives under a comprehensive track.
I hope that homegrown scientists like Dr. Lagmay be given the proper attention and respect they deserve. Let his voice be heard because he is the expert. We need to set politics aside. I also hope that UP will continue to house such projects/ program to protect them. They are all part of nation-building that will surely bring the country up to par with the rest of the world.