MMDA vows to make Metro Manila flood-resilient

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) vowed to continue enforcing flood control and management projects funded by international entities, an official said yesterday.

The agency is “committed to further intensify efforts and initiatives toward making Metro Manila more resilient to floods, especially since the effects of climate change are getting worse,” MMDA acting chairman Romando Artes said.

“As we move forward, the MMDA has high hopes for project extensions for us to successfully alleviate flood management issues in Metro Manila through the MMFMP’s structural and non-structural interventions, as well as the active participation and commitment of all stakeholders,” he added, referring to the Metro Manila Flood Management Project.

The MMDA and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) recently met with representatives from the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which both fund projects under the MMFCMP.

They visited the solid waste granulator (SWG) and brick-making facility – which creates bricks, hollow blocks and concrete barriers made with shredded solid waste, as well as bio-waste compost materials – near the Vitas pumping station in Tondo, Manila.

WB and AIIB officials noted that the MMDA has increased the SWG’s diversion rate to eight percent from five percent compared to the midterm review conducted last March; achieved a wider reach of the mobile materials recovery facility from 10 to 42 barangays, collecting 97,000 kilos of waste from last March’s 8,000 kilos; and distributed composting facilities to 32 barangays from three barangays last March.

The MMDA said it is constructing a water hyacinth processing plant in Rizal, installing pilot pyrolysis equipment at the Vitas pumping station and installing trash traps in selected waterways.