The Palawan management office of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has tested its newly-installed 14-inch diameter high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes in Barangay Lucbuan, Puerto Princesa City under the small irrigation project (SIP) to assure its operating condition.
NIA division manager Engr. Conrado Cardenas Jr. said that the dry run for the Lucbuan SIP was held on January 29 to know if it will be reliable enough to irrigate 100 hectares of rice field. The pipe was installed on January 15.
“The test run is to assure the operating condition and reliability of the installed HDPE pipe of Lucbuan SIP that will irrigate 100 hectares of rice fields for 73 farmer-beneficiaries once completed,” he said Wednesday.
Cardenas said they are still monitoring the remaining 1.4-kilometer installation of the HDPE pipe before the inauguration and turn over of the project to the Lucbuan Irrigators Association (LIA).
He added that the monitoring of projects, such as the Lucbuan SIP, is anchored to the 4-point agenda of the agency’s administrator to institute measures in improving the delivery of services.
The Lucbuan SIP was awarded to DJ Valera Construction and Supply with a budget allocation of P30, 000,000. The completion of the project has 242 calendar days which started in August 2019 and expected to be completed in April 2020.
