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Provincial

Ecija irrigation office pushes collection of IDCR

GUIMBA, Nueva Ecija – The Interim Division 6 office of the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems is pushing for the collection of fees called irrigation development cost recovery (IDCR) from those lands to be converted into non-agricultural use in all areas under their jurisdiction.

Dr. Jose Ariel G. Domingo, UPRIIS Interim Division 6 manager, said his office has started coordinating with concerned local government units, particularly with municipal engineers and municipal planning and development officers concerning the imposition of IDCR fees on land properties to be converted into non-agricultural use like subdivisions, memorial lots or private cemeteries.

The UPRIIS Interim Division 6 operates a service area covering 20,996 hectares that are being maintained by 11,405 farmers in the towns of Guimba, Cuyapo, Talugtug, and Nampicuan.

Bago bigyan ng certification sa land conversion ang landowners, kailangan muna magbayad sila ng IDCR sa NIA-UPRIIS, kaya kami ngayon ay nakikipagcoordinate sa mga mayors through their municipal engineers and MPDCs,” said Dr. Domingo.

The interim Division 6 chief also noted that the IDCR payment scheme is nothing new as he already implemented this during his previous stint as UPRIIS Division Manager 3 in Cabanatuan City which he said has a lower IDCR percentage coverage compared to Division 6’s.

IDCR refers to the payment in full by the registered landowner of the equivalent value of the government’s investment cost in the construction or rehabilitation of the irrigation system where the land requested for the said conversion is located.

Domingo said his office had already derived the unit cost of IDCR which was duly-approved by UPRIIS department manager Engr. Rose B. Bote. He said it is equivalent to P226,734.88 per hectare.

Kaya kung sampung ektaryang bukirin o lupaing saka ang iko-konvert, i-times ten mo itong unit cost kaya katumbas nitong IDCR ay nasa P2.26-million,” he said.

Domingo said the IDCR was formulated by NIA to recover their investment equivalent to the expenditures incurred by the agency on the said land being converted.

Ire-recover ng NIA ang nagastos sa development ng irrigation project which in this case involved the Casecnan Multi-Purpose Irrigation Project na na-i-turn-over na sa UPRIIS after makumpleto ang project,” he added.

Under the Division 6’s computation, NIA’s total expenditures for a ten-year period starting from 2011 until 2020 reached P4.75-billion covering a firmed-up service area of 20,996 hectares.