The Philippines and Japan have entered into a cooperation agreement to help the Philippines better deal with damage to road and tunnels from natural disasters.
According to the Philippines newspaper Business World, the agreement will focus on the construction, operation and maintenance of road tunnels and related facilities in the proposed Dalton Pass East Alternative Road Project and the ongoing Davao City Bypass construction project.
Japan’s Official Development Assistance agency (ODA) is funding the 45.5km Davao City Bypass project with a series of special loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Meanwhile, the 23km Dalton Pass East Alternative Road Project includes 6km of tunnels across three municipalities in Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija.
The agreement follows on from another technical cooperation agreement – a three-year deal sign in June – by the Philippines directly with Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It also will focus on prevention and repair of road damage. In particular, it will boost caused by natural disasters.
The agreement, between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways, runs until 2025. The focus is to boost the Philippines ability to minimise and respond to damage caused by landslides, debris flow and falling rocks, often due to earthquakes.
The project will be piloted in Central Visayas, Davao Region and the Cordilleras, according to a report by the Philippines Star newspaper.
JICA has been supporting the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways’ efforts on road slope protection technology for small-scale collapse or damage through a series of projects since 2007.
