P7.9-B Leyte 'storm surge shield' project now underway

TACLOBAN CITY, Sept. 28  -- Construction of nine subsections of the PHP7.9 billion storm surge protection road heightening and tide embankment project in Leyte are now on track, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) reported on Thursday.

The ongoing construction under section 4 covers 7.80 kilometers of seawall in some parts of the San Jose district in this city; Candahug, Macarthur Memorial Landing National Park, Baras, and Cogon villages in Palo town.

The government had set aside PHP2.38 billion for the nine subsections.

The four-meter wide structure is designed as a bicycle lane, according to DPWH Eastern Visayas Regional Director Edgar Tabacon in a mobile phone interview.

The DPWH divided the project into six sections with 30 subsections. Other sections have not yet started due to ongoing detailed engineering, feasibility, alignments, and public consultations.

“For sections 1 and 2, there are proposals to make the tide embankment as alternative road. It’s not yet approved because we are considering the technical, social, environmental and economic aspects,” Tabacon told PNA.

The infrastructure agency will bid out within this year the PHP700 million for section 6 in Tanauan town. Bidded out earlier was the PHP1.2 billion for some parts of Sections 5 and 6.

The project also tagged as Leyte’s “Great Wall” was supposed to prioritize the coastal communities from Tacloban City Astrodome to San Jose district, but it was put in hold pending the relocation of families within the danger zones.

The 27.3-kilometer project stretches from Diit village in Tacloban to Cabuynan village in Tanauan town. Sections 1 to 3 are in Tacloban, section 4 are the coastal villages of Tacloban and Palo, section 5 are some areas in Palo and Tanauan, and section 6 in Tanauan town.

The project will protect 33.7 square meters area of properties and 33,185 houses and buildings.

The four-meter high structure was pushed through by the previous administration after the 2013 storm surges wipe out neigborhoods in Leyte province. (SQM/PNA)