LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The rehabilitation and upgrading of national
roads and secondary arterial roads inter-connecting vegetable-producing towns
to the vegetable trading post will greatly help thousands of vegetable farmers
reduce their cost of transporting their crops and become competitive once the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) will
be implemented next year, Rep. Ronald M. Cosalan said here recently.
Cosalan, who is the chairman of the House committee on public works,
said for this year, Benguet stands to receive a total of P1.52 billion
purposely to complete the rehabilitation and upgrading of national roads and
roads leading to tourism sites from unpaved to concrete pavements for the
benefit of the local residents and visitors as well as the vegetable producers.
“It will be safe to conclude that around 90 percent of the national and
secondary arterial roads in the different parts of the province will be
concreted by next year and by the end of the term of President Benigno Simeon
C. Aquino, all national roads in the province shall have been fully concreted,”
Cosalan stressed.
Of the 1.52 billion infrastructure funds for Benguet this year, the
lawmaker said P1.15 billion has been earmarked by the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH)for the continuation of concreting and widening
projects along several national and secondary arterial roads while P370 million
will be used up for the rehabilitation and upgrading of three roads leading to
tourism sites in the different parts of the province.
Because of bad roads from the vegetable farms to the markets, Cosalan
claimed vegetable farmers usually entail high cost of transporting their crops
to the trading post thereby contributing in the high production cost that
frequently results to high buying prices of locally produced crops.
“Our vegetable farmers will be the primary beneficiaries of the huge infrastructure
funds being plowed back by the national government to the different parts of
the archipelago, thus, better roads will translate to lower production cost of
their agricultural crops,” Cosalan said.
According to him, the P1.15 billion will be utilized to continue the
concreting and upgrading of portions of the 105-kilometer
Acop-Kapangan-Kibungan-Bakun road, Gorel-Bokod-Kabayan-Abatan road,
Baguio-Asin-Nangalisan-San Pascua road and the Baguio-Mount Sto. Tomas road,
Shilan-Beckel road, while the P370 million tourism road funds will be used to
rehabilitate the Tawang-Lubas-Ambiong-Rimando road and two major roads leading
to the famous Timbak and other mummy caves in Kabayan town.
He said rehabilitation and upgrading of various road networks in the
province will allow vegetable farmers to have alternate road access, especially
during the rainy months where some portions of the roads are closed to
vehicular traffic due to landslides, allowing the uninterrupted supply of
agricultural crops and ensuring stable prices for the Metro Manila and other
lowland markets.
With improved road condition leading to tourist destinations in the
province, Cosalan cited the expected significant increase in the volume of
foreign and domestic tourists wanting to visit their desired destinations,
especially adventurers wanting to see the scenic spots in the remote areas like
in the towns of Kabayan, Bokod, Bakun. Kibungan and Kapangan.
Despite the scrapping of the controversial Priority Development
Assistance Fund (PDAF) for lawmakers, Cosalan said their role now is to guide
the implementing agencies on the prioritization of the various infrastructure
projects based on the priority listings given to them by the municipal and
provincial governments within their jurisdiction.
Benguet produces around 80 percent of the country’s supply of
semi-temperate vegetables but bad roads usually translate to prevailing high
buying prices and intermittent supply, especially during the rainy season. --
Dexter A. See
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