Challenges and Solutions of Capacity Development for Flood Management in the Philippines

Abstract

 From experience with challenges and solutions during a technical cooperation project for capacity development in the field of flood management in the Philippines, some means of improving future technical cooperation projects in economically developing countries can be inferred. During the construction stage of boulder type spur dykes as a pilot project, spur dyke boulder diameters were indicated as 45 cm, on average, in the design specifications. Japanese experts expected that boulders of almost 45 cm diameter would be used for those spur dykes. However, both engineers in the government which ordered the construction work and engineers in the construction company in the Philippines recognized that from small 10-cm-diameter stones to large rocks with 1 m diameter could be used, if the average diameter were equal to or greater than 45 cm. Consequently, boulders were installed in the center of the spur dykes. Then smaller stones were arranged around those boulders to shape the spur dykes. Means of improving future technical cooperation projects related to capacity development in the field of flood management were suggested to solve such differences of recognition and raise the probability of alleviating such differences.