NIA, WB to conduct 6-mo review of irrigation projects

MANILA, Philippines - The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) will conduct with the World Bank a six-month review of the agency’s baseline data on irrigations projects, newly installed agency administrator Florencio Padernal said late Tuesday.

Padernal said the results of the review to be held this year would be used as the basis for laying down projects for the two remaining years of the current administration.

“We would be taking stock of the existing projects and their physical conditions,” he said. “For projects to have an efficient plan, the establishment of a realistic baseline data should be prioritized. With an updated baseline data, precise information will be made available that will truly be useful in preparation of a project.”

NIA, he said, would also create a 10-year masterplan “ for solving irrigation problems.”

“We are trying to focus on project development. We will redefine what is considered as rehabilitation, repairs and restoration,” said Padernal.

Under the 10-year masterplan, he said, the NIA would enforce strict compliance by contractors to project specifications set by the government.

Padernal said organizational reforms would also be implemented within the agency, entailing reassignment of NIA officials in regional offices.

“It is important to have a leaner organization to transform NIA’s operation into a manageable unit,” he said.

Padernal plans to implement mechanisms to fast-track the irrigation projects. In terms of project programming, he wants projects to be finished in two to five years instead of 10 years.

Feasibility studies, surveys and preliminary and detailed design of projects would be  conducted three to six months before actual implementation.

Within the next two years, Padernal said restoration and rehabilitation of projects would be prioritized to increase irrigated areas.

Under Padernal’s term, fund releases by the agency would be centralized “to have greater control of the agency’s finances.”

Padernal would also initiate an evaluation of the utilization of internally-generated income and identify means to improve income generation from various sources such as collection of irrigation service fees.