Lim: Baywalk was supposed to be an 'artificial' beach

MANILA, Philippines - Baywalk, the tourist spot beside Manila Bay devastated by typhoon “Pedring,” was supposed to be an “artificial” beach or swimming pool until the city government scrapped the plan because it was too expensive, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said yesterday.

“The original plan was to make it like an artificial beach with white sand, or a swimming pool,” said Lim, in a phone interview with The STAR.

“However, when we had the costs estimated, it was in millions (of pesos).”

The plan was drawn up in 1993 or 1994, during Lim’s first term as Manila mayor.

He is asking the national government to help build this “dream” for residents for Manila, saying it is impossible for the city government to shoulder all the costs – he wants the beach available to everyone free of charge.

“Why would they spend so much just going to beautiful beaches like in Boracay, if they could have it here?” Lim said. “This was a dream we had before.”

Lim said the original plan was to place a 200-meter strip of white sand with an easement five meters wide, and a swimming pool filled with fresh water.

Baywalk is a two-kilometer stretch along Roxas Boulevard from the Manila Yacht Club up to the United States embassy.

He said Pedring destroyed about 750 meters of the Baywalk’s seawall, and it would cost around P30 million to rehabilitate.

DPWH: Damage not related to lowered wave deflector

The lowering of the wave deflector structure along Manila Bay had nothing to do with the extent of damage caused by the storm surge, a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official said yesterday.

Former Manila mayor Lito Atienza said Thursday that he had the wave deflector lowered in 1998 or 1999 after the DPWH raised it by 1.5 meters because it interfered with the view.

DPWH Bureau of Design director Gilbert Reyes said they will maintain the original height of the deflector when they reconstruct the seawall. He said the seawall was damaged not because it was structurally weak but because the waves were too strong.

He said they found that the wave deflector was not anchored to the large boulders in Manila Bay, noting that the deflector must be anchored on solid ground.

Reyes said they will design a new and modern seawall that will be able to withstand typhoons stronger than Pedring. He said they have started working on a new design for the seawall and this will be presented to DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson.  – With Helen Flores