Jaro floodway operational by May

ILOILO City -- The Jaro floodway, a component of the Iloilo Flood Control Project (IFCP) Stage 1, can accommodate volumes of water “good for 20-year flood frequency.” It is expected to be functional by May this year.

Director Patrick Gatan of the Project Management Office (PMO) for Major Flood Control Projects said the Jaro floodway is already 95.99 percent complete.

The IFCP is being implemented in two stages. Stage 1 is already ongoing (composed of the 4.75-kilometer Jaro floodway; 5.9-kilometer Upper/Lower Jaro River Improvement; three-kilometer Upper Ingore Drainage Improvement; seven new bridges; and relocation sites.

Further, Stage 1 is being divided into two contract packages. Package 1 is composed of the construction of the Jaro floodway; improvements of Tigum and Aganan rivers and construction of Pagsangaan, Anilao, Tacas, Balabago, Buhang and Bito-on bridges.

Package 2, on the other hand, is composed of the improvement of the Jaro River mouth, Iloilo River and the Upper Ingore Creek, and construction of the Carpenter’s Bridge.

Package 2 is already 100-percent complete while Package 1 is 71.70-percent complete.

As of January this year, the PMO reported that the over-all accomplishment of the Stage 1 Project was at 82.45 percent, around five percent ahead of schedule.

The entire component of the Stage 1 of the IFCP is expected to be completed by July next year.

Gatan said although the project is not a 100-percent solution to flooding, it is still expected “to mitigate flood damage and inundation.”

It will also provide a “safer and a more pleasant living condition for people in the urban area of Iloilo City and its vicinity.” (PNA)