| Map courtesy of the Bohol Provincial Planning and Development Office
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — With the proposed change in its design and as a result of price updating, the Malinao Dam Improvement Project (MIDP) in Bohol province will now cost at least P1.57 billion or more than double its original project cost of P653.75 million that was approved in 2014.
And for the price adjustments to get the approval of the national government, development planners in Central Visayas had approved the inclusion of the restructuring of the MDIP in the Regional Development Program (RDP).
At the same time, members of the Regional Development Council here (RDC-7) have also endorsed the project to the Investment Coordination Committee of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for its approval.
The MDIP that is located in Pilar and Sierra Bullones towns in Bohol province currently irrigates around 5,000 hectares of riceland including those that are located in the nearby town of Dagohoy.
The dam improvement project was already approved by the NEDA-ICC in 2014 with an allocation of P653.75 million.
However, the project cost had to be increased by another P918.59 million due to some changes in the design, price updating and change in the financing mix, the Infrastructure Development Committee of the RDC-7 that is chaired RDC-7 Co-Chairperson Kenneth Cobonpue said in a report which he presented during their full council meeting held last Dec. 6.
From building a concrete weir, a structure which is constructed across the open channel to change its water flow characteristics, the dam will now have a rubber weir.
“The installation of the inflatable (rubber) weir will impound more water by increasing the storage capacity of the dam, thereby irrigating an additional 700 ha. of land,” the IDC said in its report.
In a meeting held last July 28, the National Irrigation Administration in Central Visayas (NIA-7) informed NEDA-7 of their need to secure RDC-7 endorsement before the project restructuring plans could be endorsed to the NEDA ICC.
On Oct. 10, NIA-7 submitted to the RDC Secretariat a copy of the project’s technical report dated October 2022 to support their request for RDC endorsement. Also attached to their letter was a copy of the endorsement by the Bohol Provincial Development Council that was contained in Executive Committee Resolution No. 56-2022.
The result of the evaluation of the proposed restructuring of the MDIP was presented to the IDC last Nov. 16.
“The IDC then conditionally recommended RDC Full Council approval of the inclusion of the restructuring of the MDIP in the RDP and its endorsement to the NEDA Board ICC, subject to NIA 7’s compliance to the comments and recommendations enumerated in the evaluation report,” the IDC said.
It added that NIA-7 has already complied with the comments and recommendations that were mentioned in the evaluation report.
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