Worthwhile to revisit Kaliwa Dam project
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Sat, 04 Jan 2020 16:15:44 +0000
A few days ago, there was a Palace statement saying President Rodrigo Duterte was open to reviewing the Kaliwa Dam project. The statement sounded conditional though, adding that the President would do so if someone pointed out the onerous provisions of the contract. Granted, Palace statements are notorious for being vague and, at times, for reversals. But if accurate and firm, then we are for a review.
For starters, the President should look at a full accounting of the costs. Remember that before the deal with China, the previous administration approved a Japanese proposal under a BOT or build-operate-transfer scheme. The Japanese project would cost $410 million. The China proposal, which comes as an ODA or official development assistance, is reported to cost $810 million or P40.5 billion.
The government disputes those numbers. According to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, the China-funded project would cost only P12.2 billion, not P40.5 billion. The government also stresses that the China project is an ODA, but even then, it is not without costs to the Philippine government.
Besides, those figures only refer to the cost to build. Besides that, President Rodrigo Duterte should also consider the full economic cost. In a speech, he did express willingness to pay for the relocation of the indigenous people there, some 10,000 of them, and other local communities that would be affected. But not even that covers a full economic accounting.
The China project entails building a 73-meter-high dam that will flood part of the Sierra Madre mountain range, which is home to our last remaining forests. Besides dislocating people, this project will destroy the habitat of endangered wildlife, including the Philippine Eagle. That area is also home to the endangered Philippine Hawk-Eagle, the Philippine Brown Deer, Philippine Warty Pig and Northern Rufous Hornbill, among others. In fact, the area is a forest reserve by virtue of Presidential Decree 1636 issued in 1977. Plus, part of that area is a national park and wildlife sanctuary.
In contrast, the Japanese design has a smaller footprint. Their proposal calls for a low dam of only 7 meters that will divert water to a treatment plant elsewhere in Rizal province.
That system promises to supply 550 million liters per day, which would not be much less than the Chinese high dam — 10 times bigger — that promises to deliver 600 million liters day. The difference in capacity does not justify the China project’s higher monetary and environmental costs.
Other options
Even though the Japanese project bears a smaller cost, we have said before in this space that we are not for building any type of dam. But the last time we ran an editorial saying that, some challenged us to come up with alternatives.
There are a few actually, but one possible source of drinking water for Metro Manila is Laguna de Bay, one of the largest freshwater lakes in Southeast Asia. In fact, one of the two water concessionaires, Maynilad Water Services Inc., has been tapping it since 2009.
Obviously, rehabilitating and developing Laguna de Bay so that it can supply more potable water is not without major investments and issues. For one, there is a need for better enforcement of environmental laws and local ordinances against reclamation. Second, the lake needs dredging, which was halted by Benigno Aquino 3rd’s administration on the grounds of some dubious engineering reasons. Silting and illegal reclamation have lowered the average depth of the lake and diminished its capacity to hold water.
Also, there may be a need to further reduce the fish pens on Laguna de Bay. They add to pollution, because of the fish feed that collects at the bottom of the lake. Lastly, to arrest silting, there is a need for a massive reforestration program in the mountains and other areas around the lake. And of course, water will need to be pipelined to the East Zone water concession area.
Obviously, the cost of rehabilitating and developing Laguna de Bay is no small tab. But if done, we would be all better off for it.