ICC endorses 3 infra projects to NEDA board

The Cabinet-level Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) has endorsed three infrastructure projects to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board.

The three projects are the Pasig River Dredging Project by the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); the President’s Bridge Program (PBP)-Mega Bridges for Urban and Rural Development Project by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); and the Flood and Hazard Mitigation Component of the Bicol River Basin and Watershed Management Project (BRBWMP), also by the DPWH.

The Belgian-sponsored Pasig River Dredging Project involves the removal and containment of an estimated 2.83 million cubic meters of debris/sediment materials in a 19-kilometer stretch of the Pasig River from the Del Pan Bridge to the Napindan Hydraulic Flood Control Gate.

The project aims to improve water quality of the river to reduce health risks, enhance transport potentials, and eliminate/mitigate flooding in the area. The project will be implemented over a three-year period starting from the second quarter of 2008 until 2011. 

The PBP-Mega Bridges for Urban and Rural Development Project, on the other hand, which will be financed through a combination of a French export credit facility and tied commercial loan, aims to provide vital linkages or road network access along the Strong Republic Nautical Highway and Pan Philippine Highway.

The project will also promote socioeconomic growth in rural and urban areas.

It involves the nationwide construction, installation and establishment of 10 girder-type flyover and 72 “universal bridges” (unibridges) or national bridges along the country’s congested highways and road networks, and will be implemented from 2008 to 2012. 

The Flood and Hazard Mitigation Component of the BRBWMP, meanwhile, will be funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). 

The BRBWMP aims to implement an integrated watershed management and water resources development investment activities that will promote sustainable management of natural resources in a river basin context. 

The Flood and Hazard Mitigation Component has three sub-components:  flood mitigation, land acquisition and resettlement, and hazard assessment and mitigation which will be jointly implemented by the DPWH with the DENR-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), the Department of National Defense-Office of Civil Defense (DND-OCD) and the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (DOST-PAGASA).