THE P12.2-billion Chinese-funded Kaliwa Dam project has hit a construction progress milestone of 30% and is on track for completion by 2027, according to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).
“Nagkaroon tayo ng delays sa Kaliwa dahil (We had delays with Kaliwa because) it took us eight years to get the clearances and permits, pero ngayon diretso ang ating tunnel boring machine (the tunnel-boring machine is now in constant operation),” MWSS Administrator Leonor C. Cleofas told reporters recently.
Ms. Cleofas said that about 1.5 kilometers of the tunnel, which runs from Teresa, Rizal to General Nakar, Quezon province, has been bored.
“It’s a design and build. All of the equipment is already there… so it’s more of really maintaining the progress of the work,” she said.
The Kaliwa Dam is a bulk water supply project forming part of the MWSS New Centennial Water Source program. It is a 63-meter dam which is expected to supply an initial capacity of 600 million liters per day of water.
The dam is funded through a $211-million loan agreement between the MWSS and Export-Import Bank of China executed in November 2018.
“We’re still looking at three and a half years. Hopefully, the commissioning will be in the second quarter of 2028,” Ms. Cleofas said.
The project was previously scheduled for completion by 2026 and for operations by 2027.
It is expected to ease the demand on the Angat Dam, from which Metro Manila sources approximately 90% of its water supply. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
