Setbacks hinder construction of Leyte’s ‘Great Wall’

TACLOBAN CITY , March 13 -- The construction of the PHP7.9-billion seawall designed to shield Leyte communities from storm surges is moving slower than expected due to various hitches involving people’s decisions.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Eastern Visayas Regional Director Edgar Tabacon said only 7.45 kilometers of the 31.28 kilometers storm surge protection road heightening and tide embankment project is on track.

The seawall, designed to protect 30,800 houses and buildings, is up for completion in 2020, under its original plan.

Two years after the project started, civil works is just concentrated in less populated coastal villages near the borders of this city and Palo, Leyte under section 4 of the project. The government had set aside PHP2.38 billion for the nine subsections.

“While we are working to fast track the project, there are many challenges that hinder civil works such as right of way acquisition and property owners changing their mind,” Tabacon told Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Tuesday.

Tabacon said field studies and coming up with detailed engineering designs are still ongoing for sections 1 and 2 in this city and section 6 in Tanauan, Leyte.

The government is set to bid out section 3 in this city and some parts of section 5 in Palo town.

The four-meter wide structure is designed as a bicycle lane, said Tabacon.

“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,” he added.

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 section 5.

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 on hold pending the relocation of families in danger zones.

The structure stretches from Diit village in Tacloban to Cabuynan village in Tanauan town.

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