More bridge projects up in 2016 ARMM infra targets

COTABATO
CITY – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will construct
more bridges to connect peasant enclaves separated from municipal
markets by rivers that are non-traversable during the rainy days.Engineer
Don Loong, ARMM’s public works secretary, on Wednesday said with
durable bridges, farmers in the region’s five provinces will have an
all time access” to trading centers where they can sell their farm
products straight from their fields.The
ARMM covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland
Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.Among
the immediate, on-going projects now in Maguindanao of ARMM’s
Department of Public Works and Highways is the construction of an artery
that would connect a potential source of hydroelectricity, the Rainbow
Falls in a hinterland in Barira town, to the municipal center.The six-kilometer road project is a joint initiative of the DPWH-ARMM and the local government unit of Barira.Loong
said the road project would also lead to a potential site of a water
supply facility, from where clean water can be distributed to villages
in lowlands using only gravitational force.The
DPWH-ARMM has constructed dozens of water supply facilities in
far-flung areas in the autonomous region from 2013 to late 2015,
according to a matrix obtained from state auditors monitoring the
infrastructure projects of the regional government.Barira is a booming agricultural town, home to ethnic Iranuns, whose main source of income is farming and livestock-raising.It
is also in the forested uplands in Barira, located in the first
district of Maguindanao, from where the large Ambal River springs from,
source of high-quality sand and gravel aggregates needed in constructing
buildings, roads and bridges. Our
projects will remain open to scrutiny by the media and interested
parties anytime in keeping with the regional government’s policy of
transparency and accountability,” Loong said.