RPMC XII Monitors Flood Control Projects       August 10-11, 2009


The recent rains once again brought flooding in Mindanao and severely destroyed vast areas of agricultural lands as well as residential areas. The floods also have affected the Mindanao River dredging projects in Cotabato City and Sultan Kudarat Province.

The Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC) XII, the monitoring arm of Regional Development Council (RDC) XII conducted a special monitoring visit on August 10-11, 2009 to assess the current state of these projects.

Among the projects visited were the dredging of Rio Grande de Mindanao in Cotabato City and the Ala River Flood Control, Channelization and Bank Protection in Sultan Kudarat Province.

As reported by Presidential Task Force on the Mindanao River Basin Rehabilitation and Development under Archbishop Orlando B. Quevedo, OMI, DD, the heavy rainfall increased the siltation level of Rio Grande and the volume of water hyacinth which drew back whatever dredging works done by the different dredgers deployed in the area.

In Sultan Kudarat Province, flood waters completely swept away the engineering works done at the Ala River in Lambayong area. The repair and rehabilitation of Ala River Flood Control, Channelization and Bank Protection Phase 1 was almost completed when flood waters destroyed some 70 linear meters of gabions.

On the dredging of Rio Grande de Mindanao River, Engr. Somerado Lucman of DPWH-RES XII stated that what compounded the problem was the long period of inactivity in the dredging of Rio Grande due to delay in fund releases. This has disrupted the operations making the initial works done almost insignificant because of the recent flooding which again increased the level of siltation. The DPWH-RES XII said that dredging works need to be accelerated to sustain the operations of Damayan and other dredgers. Despite this, DPWH-RES XII continually operated the clearing of water hyacinths at the Quirino and Delta Bridges to prevent its accumulation in large volumes.

DPWH-RES XII also revealed that P60Million was allocated for the rechanneling component of the Simuay River Flood Control Project Phase II. The river contributes to the heavy siltation being deposited in Rio Grande. Lucman said that if the project is completed it will lessen the siltation in Rio Grande.

On flood mitigation activities in the Ala River, flood control projects implemented in Lambayong hit a snag when flood water destroyed layers of gabions and mattresses, structures used to stabilize shore against erosion. According to Engr. Elpidio Birog, District Engineer of DPWH XII Sultan Kudarat, this affected project implementation. The reconstruction of the project is a priority and the district office is already preparing the plans for this purpose, i.e., spur dikes.

A bridge is proposed to be constructed that would connect the road (Lambayong-Tacurong road) that was cut across by the current river course and funds were already requested for this purpose.

 

 
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