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| Dir. Manalang... at the helm |
The Bicol River Basin Development Program (BRBDP) will definitely be revived soon to pursue the uncompleted task of agency.
Director Danilo Manalang, present head of the Bureau of Design of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in an exclusive interview with PENINSULA MONITOR Monday, August 20 said a new BRBDP building will rise within this year at the NIA Compound at Panganiban Avenue in Naga City.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has announced in a dialogue with Bicol officials in Legazpi City last month that Manalang will head the revived BRBDP.
The new BRBDP will focus on irrigation, flood control, watershed management and institutional development according to Manalang.
Manalang, a well-known architect here in Naga City and Bicol before he joined the government, has supervised five of the biggest flood control projects in the country at Butuan City, Laoag City, Pangasinan, Ormoc, Leyte and Iloilo. His vast experience in the projects is considered vital in his current assignment.
Meanwhile, the World Bank requirement for LGUs to put up 30% counterpart on BRBDP projects in their jurisdiction has reportedly been absorbed by the national government.
Without such modification of terms depressed municipalities could not be able to avail of World Bank assistance through the BRBDP since most LGUs are encountering difficulty even in funding routinary operations.
BRBDP was first established here in 1973 to accelerate development of the so-called Bicol River Basin area made up of the lowlands in Camarines Sur and adjoining Albay province which are fertile but habitually flooded.
But the agency was unable to put up a major flood control projects until it was phased out in 1990.
Using funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) the old BRBDP succeeded only in such undertakings as the Libmanan-Cabusao integrated area development Project, Rinconada-Buhi / Lalo project, Land Consolidation Project at Bula and Minalabac and the Bicol secondary and feeder road project which notably included concreting of the road to Libmanan, to Tinambac, to Carolina in Naga City and the Bula to Balatan road.
Many believe that despite enormous funds from foreign loans the old BRBDP failed to deliver the expected benefits to the people particularly in solving the flooding problem.
