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MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is expected to seal an official development assistance (ODA) for a Western Visayas irrigation project from South Korea that is considered the biggest of its kind to date.
In a statement, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the Korea Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) would put up P8.95 billion of the P11.21 billion cost of the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project in Iloilo.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Irrigation Administration will implement the project.
“The Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase II is one of the first batch of projects and biggest of the three irrigation projects approved by the NEDA Board this year. It is a groundbreaking venture in terms of scale and importance in facilitating the increase in food production and ensuring food security in the country,” said NEDA Deputy Director-General Rolando G. Tungpalan, who led the wrap-up meeting and signing of the Minutes of Discussion (MOD) with officials of the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea EximBank) and other Philippine government officials on April 20.
The MOD will be the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding that will be signed on May 4 during the 45th Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors in Manila.
The second phase of the project involves the construction of a storage dam, a high dam and reservoir across the Jalaur River. The project will benefit the Metro Iloilo Water District, providing water supply to 22,340 hectares of croplands and increasing yields of palay and other crops in the area.
“Hopefully, this project will set the benchmark for other government projects in terms of speed, efficiency and, eventually, the effectiveness by which the project will be executed,” Tungpalan said.
On March 22, the NEDA Board, which President Benigno S. Aquino III chairs, approved three irrigation projects, including the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Phase II. The two other projects are the Umayam River Irrigation Project and the Irrigation Component Phase II of the Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project.
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