Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. will submit to the government an unsolicited proposal to build a $2-billion flood control and waste-to-energy project, a top executive said Monday.
San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said in an interview following the listing of his cement company Eagle Cement Corp. the unsolicited project would help address flooding in Metro Manila during the rainy season.
“We will submit a proposal,” Ang told reporters.
The project involves the construction of a spillway that will facilitate the release of water from Laguna de Bay to Manila de Bay.
Ang said the project would be built at no cost to the government. Ang said in exchange, he would ask the government to give San Miguel the right to use the waste materials from Laguna de Bay for its planned power generation facility.
Ang did not provide additional details on the proposed power plant.
Ang said Laguna de Bay’s average depth level was previously at 22 meters deep, but garbage and waste materials made it shallow at 3.5 meters.
“So there will be a massive flowing every rainy season in Metro Manila if the government will not do this project. This will the most import flood control project to implement instead of dredging,” Ang said.
San Miguel in partnership with New San Jose Builders Inc. also proposed to build a P400 -billion flood control project with toll road component in Bataan last year.
Under the proposed 50-year concession period, the proponents will implement an integrated infrastructure project in the northern coastline of Manila Bay that involves financing, design and construction of a city flood control in the coastal waters of Navotas City and a coastal sea barrier through the northern part of Manila Bay covering the coastal areas of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan.
The consortium will also build an expressway that will connect Bataan and Metro Manila and will provide direct access to the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga.
San Miguel, which has investments in food and beverage manufacturing, packaging, infrastructure, and power generation, has been actively bidding for various infrastructure projects across the country.