Kaliwa Dam construction equipment arriving in November as talks with IPs fail —MWSS

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) on Wednesday said the tunneling equipment for the construction of the controversial Kaliwa Dam project is set to arrive in November this year.

“By November parating na ang tunnel boring machine na gagamitin sa tunnel excavation natin,” MWSS Deputy Administrator for Engineering and Technical Operations Group Jose Dorado Jr. said during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services

(The tunnel boring machine which will be used for tunnel excavation will be arriving by November.)

However, the project’s actual start of construction is still uncertain due to failed negotiations with indigenous people communities to be affected by the P12.2-billion China-funded project.

Around 400 individuals from 55 barangays would be affected by the P12.2-billion China-funded project, according to the MWSS.

Dorado said the agency has not yet started construction for Kaliwa Dam.

This, as the MWSS official said that a series of negotiations with members of the indigenous people communities have failed, which led to a failure to secure a Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas (SAPA) needed to begin construction of the project.

"We had this meeting with IPs last May 17 and 19... Unfortunately, 'di kami nagkasundo. We seek the assistance of ARTA (Anti-Red Tape Authority)… para matulungan ang MWSS ma-fast track ang pag-secure namin ng FPIC," he said.

(Unfortunately, we failed to reach an agreement. We seek the assistance of ARTA to fast-track the securing of FPIC.)

The MWSS official said that the agency is also in talks with the government of Quezon province, which is opposing the project.

The Kaliwa Dam, once constructed, is seen to provide Metro Manila with 600 million liters of water per day.

The project traverses the provinces of Rizal and Quezon.

It will be constructed by China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC) through an official development assistance loan of $211.414 million signed by the Philippine and Chinese governments in 2018.

About 85% of the project will be funded through a Chinese loan, while the remaining 15% will be financed by the MWSS.

Dorado said that minor activities for the preparation of the site for tunneling is ongoing in areas in Rizal, which are not covered by ancestral domain.

President Rodrigo Duterte had warned courts against issuing temporary restraining orders that would delay the construction of the Wawa and Kaliwa dams.

Duterte said the dams are the "last resort" for Metro Manila to have an adequate water supply.

The MWSS earlier underscored the need for Kaliwa Dam as the water supply capacity from the Angat reservoir and some other smaller sources would not be sufficient to satisfy the water demand of Metro Manila between 2020 and 2025.—LDF, GMA News