San Miguel Corp. is spending P1 billion to dredge and expand the Tullahan river, according to its president Ramon Ang.
Ang said this will not only give the Manila Bay rehabilitation project a major boost but also help solve flooding in Bulacan.
San Miguel, together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and local executives of Navotas, Malabon, Valenzuela and Bulacan, formally launched the Tullahan-Tinajeros River System dredging project at the Navotas Centennial Park in Navotas City, where the 36.4-km Tullahan river drains into the Manila Bay.
“This project is a dredging and expansion initiative to address the problems of the Tullahan river. First, we will take out the garbage, and then we will deepen the river so water can move more freely to the Manila Bay,” Ang said.
Ang said the Tullahan river serves as a spillway from Angat and Ipo dams that is supposed to drain excess water into the Manila Bay.
“However, due to pollution–the buildup of garbage, silt, and illegal structures over the many decades–it has become clogged, shallow, and narrow,” he said.
Ang meanwhile addressed issues raised by groups opposed to San Miguel’s planned $15 billion Manila International Airport project in Bulakan, Bulacan, some five kilometers away from the site of the dredging ceremony.
“One hundred percent, this project will not worsen flooding in Bulacan, it will actually solve it. In the first place, foreign banks will not lend money for such major projects if they are not assured that you have addressed all environmental risks,” said Ang.
Ang said that as part of preparatory work for the airport, the company had already hired expert foreign consultants to study the flooding situation in Bulacan.
