A nationwide farmers
group urged Congress to hasten approval of the free irrigation bill following
latest controversy involving firing of National Irrigation Administration chief
Peter Lavinia from the agency for alleged corrupt practices.
The Kilusang Magsasaka
ng Pilipinas said NIA is prone to corruption.
“Baka nakurakot na ang
pondo para sa subsidyo sa libreng irigasyon? “We need to be assured that
there will be no collection of irrigation service fees from farmers and
irrigators associations," KMP said in a statement.
“May dumadaloy na pera
direkta sa bulsa ng ilang tiwaling opisyal at contractor ng NIA pero walang
tubig sa mga irigasyon,” said the statement noting that corrupt practices in
irrigation usually involve overpriced and substandard irrigation projects.
Late last year, the
Department of Agriculture and the NIA announced irrigation services would be
free starting 2017.
Congress allotted
additional P2-billion for the NIA this fiscal year to cover the ISF collected
by the agency from farmers’ irrigators associations.
The said allocation
will be used to cover operating requirements of NIA and the maintenance of
existing irrigation facilities which were previously funded out of the
collections from ISF.
"We urge Congress
to fast-track the approval of the free irrigation bill which has gathered
strong support from farmers, legislators, irrigators associations and even
government agencies," said KMP secretary general Antonio Flores.
"In the absence
of a law on free irrigation, the NIA should issue clear-cut guidelines on
non-collection of irrigation service fees," Flores said.
The NIA is asking a
total of P370 billion to establish irrigation projects under its 10-year
masterplan
The KMP said it will
launch actions in the coming weeks to press for long-overdue free irrigation.
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