The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Mindanao River Basin Management Council (MRBMC) Core Group has called on joint planning and collaborative efforts to solve problems of interconnectivity of priority projects.
Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, chairman of MRBMC, made the statement during a meeting of the MRBMC Core Group in Cotabato City recently.
The gathering aimed to discuss the status of the infrastructure and updates on flood-control engineering priority projects, based on the MRB master plan and preventive measures, as the country, particularly Mindanao, braces for the adverse effects of heavy rains due to the La Niña phenomenon.
Since the election of Quevedo as the council’s chairman in December, MRBMC has constituted four committees, namely infrastructure; environment; disaster-risk reduction management and climate-change adaptation; and institutional governance tasked to oversee the management, and facilitate development and completion, of the MRB master plan.
According to Quevedo, it is very important to plan on what to do, since, based on a Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration forecast, La Niña is expected to hit the country by July.
“The Mindanao River Basin needed [a] resolution of priority projects, for instance the Tunggol Bridge, which is in danger because the cement embankment protecting the bridge collapsed after heavy rains three weeks ago,” Quevedo said, pointing out that the bridge’s situation is getting serious and needs immediate attention.
Identified four high-impact priority areas of the MRB are the Pulangi River, Ambal-Simuay River, Ala River and Rio Grande de Mindanao.
He emphasized that joint planning in identifying priority projects and efforts to come together to resolve problems of interconnectivity are significant in any project.
“The projects in Bukidnon, Davao, Sarangani, Cotabato, and Maguindanao are interconnected, such that there was a need for joint planning. Davao going to Cotabato projects need to be designed and work on collaboratively from region to region or from district to district,” Quevedo said.
Proper coordination and communication, Quevedo said, are required, especially if the projects are within Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) communities, to avoid any trouble.
Three government agencies—the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD)—are tasked to oversee the management, and facilitate the development and completion of the MRB integrated master plan.