Bidding for Bulacan dam rehab project set

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines  – The National Irrigation Authority (NIA) has set the bidding for the rehabilitation of the Bustos Rubber Dam in Bulacan after it acquired the P1 billion needed to fund the project.

The bidding for the project would be conducted by mid-year, so work could be started by yearend, NIA administrator Florencio Padernal said.

Padernal said the P1 billion came from the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System as payment of its debts for using water from the dam since the 1990s.

He said NIA plans to replace with stronger materials the six rubber gates of the dam, which supplies the irrigation needs of Bulacan’s farmlands, particularly in Plaridel town.

The Bustos Rubber Dam was constructed in 1963 to irrigate farmlands placed under the government’s agrarian reform program.

The dam can hold 17 million cubic meters of water coming from the Angat Dam. During the rainy season, it regulates the flow of water toward the Angat River to prevent flooding in residential areas.