World Bank extends additional funds for Laguna de Bay project

The World Bank has approved the additional financing for programs of a number of local government units that seek to improve the environmental quality of the Laguna de Bay and its watershed. In a statement released Tuesday evening, the World Bank said the $10 million financing will be for the priority environmental sub-projects under the Laguna de Bay Institutional Strengthening and Community Participation (LISCOP) Project. Specifically, the support will finance additional environmental sub-projects including solid waste management facilities (material recovery facility, composting facility, and sanitary landfill), eco-tourism, wastewater treatment, and local drainage and flood control along the 24 river systems draining into Laguna de Bay, thus reducing pollution in the lake and preventing the degradation of its watershed. Rodrigo Cabrera, Laguna Lake Development Authority general manager, said the World Bank support will enable the agency and LGUs to expand the gains achieved by the original $10 million financing approved in 2004 for the LISCOP Project in terms of LGU and sub-project coverage. “Significantly, this World Bank support will further contribute to the environmental improvement of Laguna de Bay, Pasig River and Manila Bay as mandated by the Supreme Court," Cabrera said. Half the original financing came from a World Bank loan ($5 million) supporting priority environment and local flood control sub-projects identified, proposed and implemented by LGUs. The other half ($5 million) came from a grant from the Netherlands government supporting institutional strengthening within LLDA, LGUs, and other stakeholders and the modernization of LLDA’s regulatory and planning instruments such as the use of the environmental user fee system (EUFS) for industrial dischargers and the public disclosure program on environmental compliance and performance by the LGUs and industrial dischargers. “LISCOP’s support to LGUs has led to the upgrading of 23 out of the 41 LGU-operated open dumps into well-managed solid waste management facilities through the establishment of material recovery facilities (MRF), composting facilities and sanitary landfill," said Cabrera. “An assessment of 11 MRFs with composting has shown that these facilities have diverted about 500 metric tons of solid waste annually, which would have ended up in open dumps and the lake itself causing pollution and clogging of tributaries, canals and other waterways, hence exacerbating flooding." Some LGUs have also installed waste-water treatment systems for their slaughterhouses that have been directly discharging untreated wastewater into the lake, he said. Laguna de Bay is a potential source of water supply for Metro Manila. Laguna de Bay region encompasses the whole provinces of Rizal and Laguna, the towns of Tanauan, Sto. Tomas and Malvar in Batangas, the towns of Silang, GMA and Carmona in Cavite; the City of Tagaytay in Cavite, Lucban in Quezon province and the cities of Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, Muntinlupa, Pasay, Caloocan, Quezon, Manila and the town of Pateros in Metro Manila. Official estimate places the total population of the Laguna de Bay region at 13.6 million with a projected annual population growth rate of 2.76 percent. Bert Hofman, World Bank country director, noted that the original project, despite its modest financing, is clearly yielding tangible results and effectively addressing serious environmental and institutional issues in and around the heavily populated Laguna de Bay. Over the longer term, improving the water quality of the Laguna de Bay would lead to significant increases in well being and incomes for the many poor people who depend upon the lake for livelihood such as fishing, eco-tourism and irrigation. It would also assure Metro Manilans of a clean, potable and adequate supply of drinking water," said Mr. Hofman. -- CMA/OMG, GMA News