The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) broke ground in Minalin, Pampanga on Tuesday, October 9, 2019, the project that is seen to reduce if not alleviate perennial flooding in the low land municipalities of Province of Pampanga.
House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Han Dong-Man, DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar, Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda, DPWH Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain of Unified Project Management Office (DPWH-UPMO) Operations and Technical Services, Korean Export-Import (EXIM) Bank Country Director Sungho Jang, Vice Governor Dennis Pineda, Congressman Juan Pablo Bondoc, Project Director Patrick Gatan of DPWH UPMO-Flood Control Management Cluster and other local officials of Pampanga led the ceremonial groundbreaking of the project dubbed as the Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (IDRR-CCA) Measures in Low-Lying Areas of Pampanga Bay.
Secretary Villar said that IDRR-CCA measures in low-lying areas of Pampanga Bay is the realization of DPWH target outputs to build disaster resilient structures in calamity prone area.
IDRR-CCA which aims to improve drainage efficiency of the river channel network of Pampanga has an equivalent amount to P4.776 Billion or 94.337 Million U.S. dollar funded by loan agreement between the Government of the Philippines with the Government of Korea through the Korea EXIM Bank.
The project will specifically benefit the flood-prone municipalities of Macabebe, Masantol, Minalin, Sto. Tomas, and Apalit which are low-lying places affected by inundations inasmuch as the river tributaries and channel network could not contain the volume of waters in the highlands that flow down the Pampanga River Basin, added Secretary Villar.
Under IDRR-CCA, excavation and dredging will be implemented at the river mouth of Pampanga River in the southernmost of Pampanga Province specifically at the 20.20 kilometer stretch of Third River and 10.70 kilometer Eastern Branch Channel, and improvement of flow and efficiency of 11.40 kilometer Caduang Tete River and 11.30 kilometer Sapang Maragul River.
The river improvement activities will cover excavation volume of 245,669.50 cubic meters; embankment of 1,711,897.69 cubic meters; and dredging of 3,712,379.65 cubic meters.
Three (3) new bridges and five (5) footbridges will also be constructed as part of the project awarded to Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Company Limited and scheduled for full completion by March 2022.
As an additional flood control measure, eight (8) sluice gates will be built including Sapang Maragul Floodgate and 164 fish pond gates.