26K farmers in South Cotabato village to benefit from gov’t funded FMR project
AGRICULTURE • 16:00 PM Fri Sep 25, 2020
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By:
Leidenep Malayo Yecla/DAR-South Cotabato
KORONADAL CITY – A farm to market road in a remote village in South Cotabato will benefit some 26,000 farmers after the Mindanao Sustainable Agrarian and Agriculture Development (MinSAAD) and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) turn over a P45.8 million-9.07 kilometer road project on Sept. 24.
In partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Local Government Units, the project that was turned over and ready for use was the last of the 17 Rural Infrastructure sub-projects funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Barangay Ned, Lake Sebu.
Ned Settlement is also a recipient of another six sub-projects for Agriculture, Agri-business and Agro-forestry Development (AAAD) which already turned over a total of 23 sub-projects.
South Cotabato Vice Governor Vicente De Jesus was grateful for the MinSAAD project.
De Jesus said the FMRs and bridges given to Barangay Ned opens more rooms for development and encouraged many investors in the area.
MinSAAD Project Manager Eduardo E. Suaybaguio emphasized that the Barangay and Municipal LGUs shall take full responsibility in maintaining and sustaining the FMRs and bridges after the turn-over.
“The inspectorate team took five final inspections to ensure that the project followed the approved Program of Works and complied with the standards and specifications,” he added.
Engr. Albert Nebreja, Project Engineer of DPWH South Cotabato 2nd DEO, shared the challenges they encountered in implementing the project.
"Our biggest challenge during the implementation is the weather which is mostly 20 percent sunny and 80 percent rainy which made the project implementation slow but by God's grace the FMR was still successfully constructed," he added.
According to CARPO Lorna N. Garde, the FMR has a length of 9.0674 kilometers with 1.4155 kilometers (intermittent) Portland Cement Concrete Pavement (PCCP) and 7.6519 kilometers gravel.
Hon. Nida S. Parañaque, Punong Barangay, was thankful for this big help to the people of Brgy. Ned. She assured that the BLGU will take good care of the project and prepared measures to ensure its sustainability.
Mr. Pambet Yanga, Sitio Leader of Sitio S'laban also expressed his gratitude for the project. It helped them transport easily their farm produce to the market.
Despite the difficult road and unfavourable weather condition that greatly affects the implementation, still the project became a success because of the collaborative efforts from different partner agencies like DAR, MinSAAD, DPWH, and LGUs.