THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is set to spend P265 million for the second phase of the Manila Bay “Beach Nourishment Project,” along Roxas Boulevard in Manila, the BusinessMirror learned.
In an interview, Environment Undersecretary for Policy Planning and International Affairs Jonas R. Leones, confirmed with the BusinessMirror the existence of the project as well as the P265-million appropriation saying it is part of the continuing rehabilitation of Manila Bay.
To be implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Beach Nourishment project involves the dredging of garbage and silt and the dumping of filling materials.
The first phase of the project involved the overlaying of crushed dolomite from a mining town in Cebu province at a 500 meter-portion of the Baywalk along Roxas Boulevard.
The fund for the second phase is already downloaded to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), but remains with the DENR as the project is yet to be transferred or downloaded to the DPWH.
“The fund is still with us,” Leones told the BusinessMirror.
For the second phase, details remain sketchy, he said, as the DENR and the DPWH have yet to finalize the project design and plan. Leones, however, said there is “still no MOA [Memorandum of Agreement] yet for the project.”
He told the BusinessMirror the idea is to replenish around 300 meters of the beach area from the Manila Yacht Club toward the US Embassy, near where the dolomite beach.
The first phase of the Beach Nourishment Project has a total appropriation of P389 million, part of the total P1.7-billion Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program. Funding for the second phase was approved by Congress as part of the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA), according to Leones.
He said the DENR will provide details of the project once the MOA and plan for the project become available.
The 2020 budget for the operational plan for the DENR Manila Bay Coastal Management strategy is P1.347 billion.