NIA makes a pitch for proposed P8.3-B dam in Ecija

GAPAN, Nueva Ecija — National Irrigation administration (NIA) administrator Arturo Lomibao has made a pitch for the proposed P8.3-billion Balintingon River multipurpose project (BRMP) in Nueva Ecija, inviting prospective build-operate-transfer (BOT) proponents for the giant dam which would augment the existing water supply to Metro Manila.

"I urge investors to submit their proposals and we will look at them," he told The STAR following a visit to the District 4 office of the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS) here Friday where he launched a pilot housing project for NIA employees.

Assisting Lomibao in awarding the lot certificates for the proposed Ginandusan Subdivision here were engineer Antonio Nangel, UPRIIS operations manager; engineer Marcelino Santos, NIA District 4 chief; and Antonio Reyes, president of the 9,000-strong NIA Employees Association of the Philippines (NIAEASP).

Miguel San Gabriel, NIAEASP District 4 president, said the housing project involves the development of 127 lots on a 3.5-hectare NIA property in Ginandusan at a cost of P220 per square meter.

While there are ongoing negotiations for the BRMP, Lomibao said they are at the exploratory stage and there are no firm commitments yet from BOT proponents.

"We are looking at it (Balintingon) as an alternative," he said, explaining that the project was not included in the list of big projects prioritized in the "Super Regions" projects of President Arroyo.

Last July, Lomibao’s predecessor, Baltazar Usis, announced that the California Energy Casecnan II Inc. (CECI), builder of the $600-million BOT component of the Casecnan multipurpose irrigation and power project, had forged a memorandum of understanding with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and NIA for the development of the BRMP.

California Energy is an international leader in the development and production of energy from diversified fuel sources, including geothermal, natural gas and hydroelectric.

Nangel said the BRMP is projected to irrigate 18,800 hectares of farmlands in the eastern sections of Central Luzon, covering Nueva Ecija, Bulacan and Pampanga.

The project’s original feasibility study was completed in the early 80s and California Energy offered to undertake a new feasibility study to suit prevailing economic conditions.

Under the NIA’s 1983 detailed feasibility study, financed by a grant from the Italian government, Santos said a 140-meter high rockfill central core dam was proposed to be built across the Sumacbao River in this city with a reservoir capacity of 572 million cubic meters.

Also to be constructed are a 140-meter diversion weir, 109 kilometers of main canals, 168 kilometers of lateral and sub-lateral canals, 210 kilometers of drainage channels, and access and service roads.

The project would benefit 548,000 farmers in the towns of Cabiao, Gen. Tinio, Peñaranda, San Isidro, and Sta. Rosa and the cities of Gapan and Cabanatuan, all in Nueva Ecija; San Ildefonso, San Miguel and San Rafael in Bulacan; and Arayat in Pampanga.