NEDA clears P147 B infra dev’t projects
The board of the National Economic and Development Authority ( NEDA) has approved five infrastructure and social development projects worth a combined P147 billion.
In particular, the board gave the go-signal to start the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project which costs P35.58 billion.
The CALAX project, to be undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), involves the financing, design and construction of a new 47.02 kilometer, four-lane expressway from the end of the Cavite Expressway or Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite to Mamplasan Interchange of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) in Bian, Laguna.
The project, to be completed in 2017, aims to provide fast, safe, comfortable and reliable means of transportation in Cavite and Laguna provinces.
The NEDA board also gave the green light for the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road project estimated at P25.56 billion.
This project, with target completion in 2016, will complete the north-south industrial development beltway transport axis that consists of a 13.4-km and four-lane elevated expressway connecting the North Luzon Expressway and SLEX. The project aims to decongest Metro Manila traffic and provide better access to Manila ports.
NEDA also approved the allocation of P1.03 billion for the so-called “Adapting to Climate Change Through the Construction of Water Impounding Facilities in the Philippines: Pasa Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (Pasa SRIP).”
Pasa SRIP project will involve the construction of a 36.70-meter-high earth-filled dam across Pasa River with a reservoir of active storage. It also includes the construction of irrigation facilities with a main canal of about 5.93 km. and lateral canals of 16.20 km. and the improvement of 4,187 meters of farmto-market roads. The project aims to improve food security and rural incomes by increasing agricultural and fishery production through the establishment of a climate-resilient agriculture infrastructure.
The project, targeted to be completed in 2016, would be jointly undertaken by the Department of Agriculture Ð National Irrigation Administration.
Another P2.94 billion, on the other hand, would be used to finance the Change in Scope of the Second Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resources Management Project (CHARMP II), the NEDA board said.
The proposed changes in the project’s components will entail reallocation of funds among various project components such as the adjustment of the land tenure improvement targets and the scaling down of the documentation and dissemination of indigenous forest management systems, among others.