P1.2-B Cordi works done

BAGUIO CITY — At least P1.2-billion pump priming projects of the national government have been completed in the six provinces and two cities in the Cordillera which will help spur economic development in far-flung communities of the region.

Engineer Enrico Guilas, regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways in the Cordillera, said the pump priming projects of the Arroyo administration were focused on rehabilitation, upgrading and construction of roads and bridges in identified poor provinces in the region.

Out of the amount earmarked for the completion of the pump priming projects, P324.2 million worth of projects that included the long overdue Manabo Bridge in Abra were implemented by the DPWH regional office since the project costs were above the P50 million ceiling given by the central offices to the district offices of the agency.

Abra got P248.6 million from the agency’s pump priming fund; Apayao, P359.6 million; Baguio City, P37.4 million; Benguet, P90.7 million; Ifugao, P173 million; Kalinga, P20 million and Mountain Province, P33.3 million.

According to Guilas, project implementers completed their awarded projects during the first quarter of this year.

Based on the list of top 10 poorest provinces in the country last year, Abra and Apayao were included as the poorest provinces which warrants the implementation of appropriate interventions to provide the people with increased sources of livelihood for their families.

Because of better access to the interior parts of the region which were projected as potential economic growth indicators, Guilas said people in the remote areas can now freely transport their agricultural crops from their farms to the markets while foreign and domestic tourists will have the chance to explore ecotourism sites in the hinterlands which could become drawers of visitors in the future.

The regional DPWH official acknowledged the importance of constructing access roads from the urban centers to the countryside since it will be a major factor in helping improve economic growth that will help change the lifestyle of people over a period of time.

Guilas said the national government needs to invest more funds for the development of the interior parts of the region to help decongest the over populated urban centers and bring to the countryside the benefits of development rather than the same being concentrated in key populated places in the different parts of the region. – Dexter A. See