Lamitan residents see better economy with more ARMM local infra soon

COTABATO CITY – Residents of Lamitan City are certain they can rise faster from poverty caused by conflicts with the implementation from 2017 to 2018 of P1.1 billion more worth of local infrastructure projects.Lamitan City Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay on Saturday told reporters here the regional government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had allocated P685 million for projects in their 45 barangays in 2017 and an additional P415.6 million more for 2018. This is something new to the local communities in Lamitan City. With all these infrastructure support from ARMM, we can now anticipate dramatic improvements soon in the local economy and the security landscape of our city. Furigay said.The local government unit (LGU) of Lamitan City was recently awarded by the office of Local Government Secretary Esmael Sueno with the 2016 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) citation for its efficiency and active implementation of programs promoting the socio-economic and political empowerment of its more than 80,000 Muslim and Christian constituents. The infrastructure projects for Lamitan City the ARMM government charted for 2017 and 2018 will generate livelihood and employment opportunities for local residents who have barely started to rise from poverty and underdevelopment brought about by armed conflicts, said Furigay, now in his second term as vice mayor.Engineer Don Mustapha Loong, regional secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways-ARMM, confirmed on Saturday that P1.1 billion had been earmarked for various infrastructure projects in Lamitan City, the new capital of the island province of Basilan, for calendar years 2017 and 2018.Besides the 2017-2018 projects in Lamitan City, to include farm-to-market roads, bridges and other vital structures, the ARMM government has also been constructing a transcentral road that would link the city to southwest of Basilan, traversing hinterlands once controlled by the feared Abu Sayyaf.Loong said the administration of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman had allocated P252 million for the first 21-kilometer stretch of the thoroughfare and an additional P806.05 million for 34 kilometers more from the region’s 2015 and 2016 infrastructure budgets from the national coffer, respectively.Furigay said incumbent officials of Lamitan City, Loong, Hataman and personnel of the Basilan District Engineering Office had agreed to ensure transparency in the implementation of the costly projects in Lamitan City for 2017 and 2018.Furigay said their city government and Basilan’s district engineer, Soler Undug, are also working together cohesively in overseeing all government infrastructure projects in Lamitan City. We don’t have problem working with the Basilan District Engineering office, he said.Officials opened just recently to public use Lamitan City’s newly-expanded roll on, roll off wharf, reconstructed with a P150 million budget from ARMM.Furigay personally received on Thursday from ARMM’s local government secretary, lawyer Kirby Abdullah, a written directive to commence the construction of a P3.4 million tourism center in Barangay Ubit in Lamitan City.Abdullah had stated in the order that the LGU of Lamitan City has 12 months to accomplish the project, to be bankrolled with a grant from the government’s Performance Challenge Fund. This is another blessing. We shall implement this project in the most transparent and efficient manner, Furigay said.