MILG provincial counter-pandemic efforts gets boost
COTABATO CITY ---- The Bangsamoro government is distributing more computers to three island provinces that frontliners can use for data processing essential to the war on coronavirus.
Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, interior and local government minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Saturday they are to ship soon the computers and accessories to their provincial offices in the scattered Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi island provinces.
Sinarimbo supervises the operation of the Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence, or READI contingent of BARMM, which is composed of crisis responders, among them health workers, extensively involved in the regional government’s COVID-19 containment efforts.
A number of BARMM anti-COVID-19 frontliners tested positive to the disease this week.
“We are strengthening our provincial offices by providing them new equipment to enhance operation. These computers are bound for Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. More are coming,” Sinarimbo said.
The Bangsamoro region covers the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in mainland Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan.
Sinarimbo said the BARMM Ministry of the Interior and Local Government is thankful to the United Nations Development Programme for donating this week biohazard protection supplies to the office of Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong.
Lanao del Sur, covering 39 towns and more than 90 barangays in its capital, Marawi City, has high COVID-19 prevalence.
“This donation will augment our supplies. Our health frontliners need these supplies. We are grateful to the UNDP,” Adiong said.
Adiong said the UNDP donated to the provincial government 200 sets of protective suits, 200 face shields, 1,000 disposable facemasks, 200 KN95 facemasks, 2,000 pairs of shoe linings and 2,000 pairs of hand gloves.
He said the provisions from UNDP have been forwarded to the Lanao del Sur provincial disaster risk reduction and management council which is in the forefront of his administration’s COVID-19 containment operation.
Sinarimbo said the UNDP’s donation was a big boost to the anti-COVID-19 campaign of Adiong's office.