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Friday, November 05, 2004
Delta-2 project to stop flooding in Pampanga, Bulacan
By Chris Navarro
MACABEBE -- About 250,000 residents of six towns in the province and nearby Bulacan will no longer have to contend with the yearly occurrence of massive flooding once the P2.9-billion Pampanga Delta Development Project (PDDP) is realized.
Project Director Emil K. Sadain, cluster head of the Project Management Office-Feasibility Studies of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), said upon instructions of President Arroyo and Public Works Secretary Florante Soriquez, his team were tasked to study and present permanent solutions to the constant flooding problem in the towns of Masantol, Macabebe, Apalit (all in Pampnga) and Hagonoy, Calumpit and Paombong (in Bulacan).
During Thursday's public hearing on flood control mitigation projects in Pampanga and Bulacan held at Paradise resort in Malolos town, Sadain said one of the solutions for the flooding problem in these municipalities would be the implementation and construction of the PDDP-2.
Sadain said during last September 28's Cabinet meeting that President Arroyo had instructed Soriquez to solve the flooding in these two provinces, including the rest of Central Luzon.
"We already have two projects in Pampanga, the GSO widening and the Mount Pinatubo Urgent Mitigation Project (MPUMP) which will hopefully start in 2005," Sadain said.
Sadain said other projects that are being lined are the Tarlac river basin river control, which will address the flooding situation in Zambales.
He explained that in 2002, the project was opposed by residents of Bulacan. This has prompted the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to postpone the funding of the project until the DPWH is able to settle the right of way and other social issues of the local population.
Meanwhile, 4th district Rep. Anna York P. Bondoc said based on experience with the PDDP-1 project, certain sectors - mostly the local villagers - at first opposed the project.
But after it was finished, Bondoc said flooding was no longer a problem in the 4th district particularly in the towns of Masantol and Macabebe.
Bondoc also said residents of Calumpit, Paombong and Hagonoy in Bulacan, who are opposing the PDDP-2 project, must take into consideration the PDDP-1's effectivity in solving the flooding problem in Pampanga.
Bondoc said the DPWH should also undertake a massive information campaign to inform the people that the project will be beneficial.
Board Member Nestor Tolentino said fourth district villagers living near the river banks were well compensated by the government and were permanently resettled.
Tolentino said public consultation is needed to enlighten the residents on the "positive side" of the project, saying that once it is finished, this will allow the people to live normal lives far from flooding.
He added that villages where the PDDP project ran have even turned into model communities, and through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), owners can still till their land while the project is not yet in effect.
Tolentino said the PDDP-2 is supported by President Arroyo, adding that the success of the PDDP-1 became a barometer in pushing for the implementation of the project's second phase in solving the flooding problem in Pampanga.
(November 5, 2004 issue)
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