BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – The detailed engineering design (DED) of the P11.2-billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project – Phase II (JRMP-II) in Calinog, Iloilo has been completed.
South Korean consultants did the DED, according to National Irrigation Administration (NIA) regional manager Gerardo Corsiga.
“We have submitted the completed detailed engineering design to the NIA central office for evaluation and approval,” said Corsiga, also the project manager of JRMP-II.
The DED preparation started on Nov. 26, 2013.
Once approved and the South Korean contractor will have issued the Notice to Proceed, said Corsiga, the implementation process will then proceed to the procurement of materials before this year ends.
“The actual construction will probably start first quarter of 2015,” said the NIA regional manager.
As to the free prior informed consent (FPIC) of the affected indigenous peoples (IP), said Corsiga, it is also on process and they are confident of securing one before the construction begins.
The DED will also be clearly presented to the IPs in three barangays in Calinog affected by the project.
Under its “tight” loan agreement with the Korean Eximbank, said Corsiga, the project consultant and contractor will be a South Korean.
As soon as the DED is available, an international competitive bidding will be held and approved in Manila.
Corsiga said firms qualified to bid for the Jalaur project are “Top 5 Korean firms.”
They should have a “massive expertise in irrigation” and capable of implementing a “$200,000” contract, said the NIA official.
Corsiga also vowed to “try our best” to counter the negative environmental impacts of the project and to advance sustainable employment for affected IPs and farmers in the area.
Calinog IPs registered with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) have no complaints against the dam, he said.
He can’t tell, however, if the three so-called IPs who recently testified before the Court of Appeals against the Jalaur mega dam were NCIP-registered.
The ranks are closing in against the oppositors of the JRMP II. Fifty-eight out of 59 village chieftains of Calinog support the consultation and dialogue of at least 80 to 100 Panay-Bukidnon leaders with the direct government implementers of the mega dam.
The 40-member Panay-Bukidnon council of elders and other tribal leaders set the talks on Aug. 26 with NIA, NCIP, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – all government agencies having a direct hand in the mega dam construction.
The Panay-Bukidnons and the local government unit of Calinog are closing ranks as “professional agitators” seek to derail the project by claiming there were no proper public consultations held and that the IPs do not support the dam.
This was belied several times by Leopoldo “Polding” Caballero, head of the 40-member council of elders.
Caballero said the council and other leaders and community members have had consultations with the government since 2012, and they see the dam as a positive development in their lives./PN
