Name of Client:
National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Region 3
Country:
Philippines
Length of Consultancy Assignment:
Start Date: February 2022
Completion Date: February 2023
Detailed Narrative Description of Project:
NIAR3 is investing in a series of feasibility studies to assess the economic and financial viability of various irrigation projects in the region. One of these proposed irrigation systems is the Baquilan irrigation scheme located in Botolan Municipality, Zambales Province, where agricultural and socio-economic development has been constrained by the lack of irrigation facilities, which means that farmers can realize only one rice crop per year. The proposed project is envisaged to help alleviate poverty in the project area through increasing cropping intensity, crop production, and farm income. It will provide year-round irrigation to farmlands in a 1,800-hectare (ha) service area from a reservoir-served irrigation system.
PRIMEX, as the Lead Firm, is contractually responsible to NIAR3 for the timely delivery of a quality Feasibility Study Report on the proposed Baquilan Irrigation Project (BIP). More specifically, the assignment aims to: (i) undertake value engineering/value analysis (VE/VA) in the selection the of best possible implementation, project options, and configurations for the project (including newly available technology that can be used to deliver the project or components of the project; and (ii) conduct feasibility-level engineering designs, various analyses (e.g., hydraulic analysis, hydrologic assessment, subsurface investigations, ground survey, soil, and land classification study, agronomic study, electro-mechanical works, economic and financial analysis, alternative financing schemes, environmental and social assessment, etc.), and cost estimates, among others. The FS Report will contain the following key details, among others: (i) findings of the situation analysis; (ii) project description in terms of rationale, impact/goal, objectives/outcome, and components/outputs; (iii) feasibility-grade plans and drawings; (iv) project cost and alternative financing plans; (v) project implementation arrangements, schedules, and contract documents/procurement packages; (vi) project justification, including economic and financial analysis, analysis of environmental impacts and social dimensions, and potential risks; and (vii) results of the VE/VA study.
To undertake the FS, PRIMEX is fielding 13 consultants, namely: (i) Water Resources Development Planning Specialist/Team Leader; (ii) Planning and Dam Engineer/Deputy Team Leader; (iii) Irrigation and Drainage Engineer; (iv) Geologist; (v) Soil and Land Classification Specialist; (vi) GIS Specialist; (vii) Agriculturist/Agronomist; (viii) Economist/Financial Analyst; (ix) Watershed Management Specialist; (x) Environment Specialist; (xi) Social Safeguard Specialist/Anthropologist; (xii) Institutions and Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist; and (xiii) Procurement Specialist. In addition, PRIMEX is providing the entire FS Consultant Team (FCT) with technical and administrative backstopping support through a Project Support Team (PST) composed of a Project Manager, a Junior Engineer/Project Coordinator, and a Finance and Administrative (F&A) Officer under the oversight supervision of the PRIMEX Project Director, who is responsible for quality assurance and the timely submission of the project deliverables: Environmental and Social Assessment Report; Value Engineering/Value Analysis Report; and Feasibility Study Report.