ILOILO City – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has approved the loan restructuring for the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage II (JRMP II) for an additional P8.48 billion for its completion.
JRMP II Project Management Office Manager Jonel Borres gave updates on the project during the special meeting of the Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) of the Regional Development Council (RDC) at the NEDA-6 office yesterday.
The original price was P11.2 billion when the project’s implementing agency, National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and contractor Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. signed the contract on Sept. 3, 2018.
NIA spokesperson Steve Cordero said the contractor requested for the increase since inflation has impacted the cost of materials and labor, other inter-related factors in the implementation such as the Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC), and additional requirements by Korean Export-Import (KEXIM) Bank, among others.
“All these, the inflation, delay in the implementation, processes, and requirements are the reasons why we have an increase in cost. The big factor is inflation due to the cost of materials and the exchange rate because our official currency in the loan is US dollars. The exchange rate when the loan was approved was P43 (for 1 USD), but by the time we implemented it, we were already at P50 plus,” Cordero said.
He added the request for additional funds was approved in principle on July 19 this year.
Meanwhile, Borres in his presentation before the IDC, said the physical accomplishment of the project is 68.56 percent complete as of this month.
“We are almost on target despite the typhoon and rain,” he added.
JRMP II consisted of the construction of a 109-meter high dam, a 38-meter afterbay dam, a 10-meter Alibunan River catch dam, and the 80.7 kilometers high line canal (HLC) that will traverse nine municipalities of Iloilo province.
To date, the high dam is at 99 meters, while two other dams are substantially completed with the afterbay dam already at 38.5 meters and the catch dam at 10 meters.
The HLC already covers 49.05 kilometers, equivalent to 60.75 percent of the target length.
Cordero said they are on track and will be operational by mid-2025.
Once completed, the biggest dam outside Luzon will provide year-round irrigation water to 9,500 hectares of new irrigable areas and rehabilitation of 22,340 hectares covered by five existing irrigation systems in 23 towns and two cities in the province of Iloilo.
It will also generate 6.6 megawatts of hydroelectric power and provide the needed bulk water supply for the city and province of Iloilo. (PNA)/PN
