ADB releases $60-M for Pasig River rehab

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has released a $60-million program loan, the last tranche of the $100-million package for the Pasig River Environment Management and Rehabilitation Sector Development Program.

The program also has a $75-million investment loan component to promote physical improvements to enhance water quality, improve the tributaries and canals, and promote renewal and redevelopment along the Pasig riverbanks.

The program loan is part of the $176-million integrated loan package that the ADB had approved in 2000, mainly to improve health and living conditions in the riverside communities as well as bring marine life back to the river.

The Pasig River rehabilitation program is due for completion in 2005 with the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission as the executive agency for the project.

"The government’s implementation of the policy and investment programs is having a positive impact in the Pasig River basin," Michael Lindfield, ADB’s senior officer in charge of the project, said. Lindfield also cited the progress in meeting loan conditions and the impact of the improvements on the riverbanks and their residents.

The policy agenda for the river has been moved forward with the strengthening of central institutions for water quality monitoring and policing of wastewater discharges.

The commission hopes that the policy actions will have far-reaching implications, raising costs for polluting industries, and requiring additional investments in solid waste and wastewater handling.

The Pasig River, the main waterway flowing through Metro Manila between Laguna de Bay and Manila Bay, is of historic, social, cultural and commercial importance, but is nearly "dead" due to indiscriminate discharge of untreated municipal and industrial wastewater and solid waste.

Lindfield said that the program was making significant progress taking into consideration that 15 parks have either been completed or are being developed along its banks.

"These open spaces, 10-meters wide, provide much-needed breathing space for the cramped riverside communities," he said. "In these areas, flows of raw sewage and storm water into the river have been considerably reduced and local governments are preparing ambitious plans for urban renewal," he added.