Arroyo led discussions on the P54-billion comprehensive flood control project, which would cover the Pampanga River from Arayat town in Pampanga province to Calumpit town in Bulacan province, during a meeting of Central Luzon officials, engineers and flood control experts. “Now these have become much worse and we have to push through with the project,” Arroyo added. She said the project was the next phase of the Pampanga Delta Development Project that was supposed to have been implemented in 2003 but was shelved due to opposition from local officials and residents. A third project planned for 2019 will manage a “flood path” from the towns of Gabaldon and Rizal in Nueva Ecija to Arayat in Pampanga. She said among the long-term flood mitigation projects were the construction of dikes worth P15.3 billion on both banks of the Pampanga River, a west Pampanga flood control project costing P13.5 billion and a 40-kilometer dike with tidal gates costing P9.3 billion.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer September 30, 2018 21:18 UTC