Negros Occidental To Inaugurate Province’s First and Only Buttress Dam
High officials of the province of Negros Occidental will gather on Friday, November 25, to inaugurate the 16-meter Magballo-Balicotoc-Canlamay Buttress dam in Brgy. Balicotoc, Ilog, Negros Occidental. The said dam was designed by the National Irrigation Administration and it is known to be the first and only buttress dam in the province.
The Magballo-Balicotoc-Canlamay Dam a few months before completion
The Magballo Dam features an integrated scheme of pump irrigation, river diversions and reservoir storage that will serve 556 hectares of diversified farms in the hinterlands of Ilog and Kabankalan City. It will tap water from three rivers namely, Binalawan River, Magballo River, Tabla River, and two creeks, the Isam Creek and Balicotoc Creek. It aims to benefit 554 households.
Other than the irrigation component, the project, which is one of the non-core subprojects of the Southern Philippines Irrigation Sector Project (SPISP), has a livelihood program for the affected families which include sugarcane production, carabao raising, cattle fattening and swine production. Also included in the project implementation was the resettlement of the affected families as well as watershed management. Total cost for these environmental and social measures was about Php56.6 million. Infrastructure cost, on the other hand, was more than Php278 million.
The inauguration and turn over ceremonies will be graced by Negros Occidental governor, Alfredo Marañon, Jr., Congresswoman Mercedes Alvarez, Mayor John Paul Alvarez of the Municipality of Ilog and Mayor Isidro Zayco of Kabankalan City. Officials of NIA Region VI headed by Regional Manager Gerardo P. Corsiga and NIA Negros Occidental chief, Engr. Joel A. Basiao will also attend the occasion.//shinebjamero
