Top officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are continuously monitoring works being executed to mitigate flooding along Cagayan de Oro (CDO) River in Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao Region.
DPWH Secretary Roger G. Mercado with Undersecretary and Build Build Build Chief Implementer Emil K. Sadain led on Thursday, March 24, 2022 the inspection of various components of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-assisted Flood Risk Management Project for Cagayan de Oro River (FRIMP-CDOR) in Cagayan de Oro City.
Undersecretary Sadain, in-charge of DPWH Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations, informed Secretary Mercado that the project was conceived after the trail of destruction by Tropical Storm Sendong on December 2011 brought heavy rains over CDO and other parts of Mindanao and Visayas islands, triggering flooding and landslides and resulting to lost of lives and properties.
Prioritized under the President Rodrigo Duterte administration as among the flagship infrastructure projects in the Build Build Build Program, FRIMP-CDOR has a flood risk management design of a 50-year flood return period and with consideration on the impact of global climate change.
Considerable progress has been achieved on the construction of structural measures implemented by DPWH UPMO Flood Control Management Cluster (UPMO-FCMC) since the project started in 2018, particularly at the downstream portion of the Cagayan de Oro River stretch of about 12 kilometers from its mouth in Macajalar Bay going upstream to the Pelaez Bridge.
DPWH UPMO in collaboration with the local government unit pushed with building a mega dike and other components as a major flood risk management project along the city’s main tributary, which is expected to be completed in 2023.
Structural civil works are divided in three (3) contract packages, with Contract Package 1 at 92 percent complete involving the construction of a 1.3 kilometer dike traversing Barangay Bonbon to Barangay Kauswagan; Contract Package 2 at 92.3 percent involving the construction of floodwall along Barangay Consolacion; and Contract Package 3 at 79.6 percent traversing Barangays Kauswagan, Carmen, Balulang, Nazareth, and Macasandig.
Undersecretary Sadain added that non-structural measures such as flood forecasting and warning system, community-based flood early warning system, as well as technical assistance for riparian and mangrove forest establishment in agricultural and coastal areas have also been included and adapted based on the topographic, social and development conditions of the highly-urbanized city of Cagayan De Oro.
With a total project cost of ₱8.5 Billion, FRIMP-CDOR is funded by a signed loan agreement number PH-P259 with JICA amounting to ₱5.01 Billion and counterpart fund of the Government of the Philippines from annual fiscal allocation amounting to ₱3.53 Billion.
During his site visit, Secretary Mercado has instructed UPMO-FCMC Project Director Ramon A. Ariolla III to ensure strict adherence of the contractors and consultants to health and construction safeguard measures with due compliance to the set project timelines by expediting work especially during this summer season.
Also present during the project inspection were DPWH Undersecretaries Eugenio R. Pipo Jr. and Maximo L. Carvajal; Assistant Secretaries Ador G. Canlas and Rolito D. Manalo; Region 10 Director Zenaida T. Tan; and UPMO Project Directors Benjamin A. Bautista, Sharif Madsmo H. Hasim, Rodrigo I. Delos Reyes, and Johnson V. Domingo.
With the FRIMP-CDOR, we can be assured that damage caused by heavy flooding such as what happened during Sendong will be prevented, securing lives and properties in the city,” said Secretary Mercado.
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