MORE NEWS, NUEVA ECIJA

P470 M infra dev’t for Ecija town
By Joan Capuna

PANTABANGAN, Nueva Ecija – Around P470.7 million worth of projects is in the works in this town, triggering an infrastructure boom in what is billed as the province’s “Little Baguio.”

Mayor Romeo Borja Sr. said of the almost half-billion projects in the radar of the municipal government, half or P266.7 million are on-going projects.
The biggest is the construction of the new municipal building fronting the old municipal hall costing P70 million.

The new municipal hall, which is funded through a loan from the Philippine National Bank, is now 50 percent complete. It is expected to be completed in October.
Borja said road concreting of the 2.7 km Malbang Road, worth P30 million is now complete while those of the P40-million, 3.5 km Conversion Road, the P29-million, 2.8 km Ganduz-Sampaloc Road and the P15-million, 1.2 km Cadaclan-Napon-Napon Road are in various stages of completion. Base preparations have also been completed for the P25-million, two-km Marikit Road as well as the two-km East Poblacion Road.

He said the municipal government is also constructing two to four-classroom schoolbuildings in Barangays East Poblacion, San Juan, Poblacion West, Marikit and Malbang and a Health Center in Villarica which will service the adjacent barangays of Malbang and Liberty.

Henry Pascual, acting municipal planning and development coordinator, said construction activities are now going on without let-up in this town, which is being hyped as a miniature version of the country’s summer capital owing to its relatively cold climate and for being a potential tourist mecca.

Borja said the municipal government is negotiating a P40-million loan for the provision of potable water systems in Barangays Liberty, Malbang, Villarica, East Poblacion and West Poblacion.

The Sangguniang Bayan has approved the loan package which would enable 2,500 families to avail of potable drinking water.

Borja said that at present, local residents only buy mineral for their drinking needs since the main water lines installed by the National Irrigation Administration are not suited for drinking purposes because these are made up of asbestos which is known to cause cancer.

The lack of drinking water for residents is considered an irony as the town hosts the mammoth Pantabangan Dam which supplies hydroelectric water to around 102,000 hectares of agricultural lands in Central Luzon.

Another loan worth P70 million is being worked out for the Special Education Fund (SEF) of the municipality to provide for facilities in all schools in the town.

The local government, Borja added, is also negotiating with the Japanese government for P54-million in grants for construction of farm-to-market roads and with the Department of Agriculture for installation of water pumps worth P70,000 each.