BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – Aside from flooding irrigations with water, the P11.2-billion Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project (JRMP) – Phase II will strengthen the province’s eco-tourism program.
Part of the engineering design is the construction of tourism-related facilities like a tourism center and concrete access roads, said Engr. Ricardo Penaso, head of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) regional office’s engineering department.
“In the tourism center, visitors will enjoy the view of our mega dam. It will also be provided with mechanism and warning systems for the safety of tourists and for the safeguarding of facilities,” Penaso said.
NIA had also inked a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines for the security and protection of the mega dam.
Government agencies like the Department of Tourism will help in the dam’s tourism component, Penaso said.
DETAILED ENGINEERING STAGE
Penaso said the project’s detailed engineering design is currently being finalized. It is expected to be completed by August.
The engineering design includes all details of the project such as how high would the dam be and how long is the canal, among others, Penaso said.
Once completed, it will be submitted to the NIA central office for approval.
The detailed engineering design is being undertaken by the winning consultant, the KRC Corps in joint venture with Dasan Saman Consultancy, both South Korean companies.
Once the design is approved, bidding for the construction of the project will subsequently commence.
However, Penaso said, construction could not start unless there is a “informed consent” from indigenous peoples living in the vicinity of the project site.
According to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the consent is one of the requirements under the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997.
“The NCIP is now conducting field investigation to check IPs that might be affected,” Penaso said.
The original target year of completion of JRMP II is 2016.
Delays, however, may push back the target date to late 2017 or early 2018, said Penaso.
The project seeks to upgrade the existing irrigation system coverage in Iloilo from 22,000 hectares to 31,840 hectares of farmland. The goal is to increase rice production.
The mega dam will harness the power of the Jalaur River to also produce additional electricity estimated at 6.6 megawatts.
It will also augment the province’s and Iloilo City’s supply of potable water for domestic and industrial use, mitigate flooding, promote eco-tourism, and generate employment for 17,000 workers during construction, he added./PN
