Road infra is Mountain Province LGU priority

By Gina Dizon

BONTOC, Mountain Province - Construction of roads is a major development thrust of the provincial government.

Gov. Leonard Mayaen in an interview said a major bulk of the province’s 20 percent development fund will be spent for road rehabilitation and construction.

The P60 million fund, Mayaen said, will be evenly spread out in the ten municipalities of the province, mostly connected by dirt-roads of gravelly to rough texture.

The Barlig-Bontoc road is rough and gravelly like other routes including Bontoc-Sadanga and the Bauko- Sabangan- Tadian road.

These includes the centennial-old rugged and dilapidated Sagada-Dantay road recently categorized as a national highway which remains rough and dilapidated , except for some road sections concreted from funds of Bayan Muna party list and the provincial government.

Some barangays are reachable by foot while most are reached via farm- to- market roads making these slippery during rainy seasons.

In a related development, Mayor Matthew Chiawan of Natonin municipality said road construction is his major development priority thrust.

The Natonin-Paracelis road makes up sharp dangerous curves needing the necessary rehabilitation to prevent accidents which are a potential occurrence in the area.

Too, landslides are a common occurrence along the road links to Bauko-Sabangan-Tadian, Bontoc-Baguio, and Bontoc-Ifugao during rainy seasons, disrupting transport.