BAGANGA, DAVAO ORIENTAL – The lifelong dream of the residents of a far-flung village for an easier and safer access road has now become a reality.
Just recently, the Provincial Government and its partner agencies inaugurated the newly completed P52.2 million concrete farm-to-market road with a 45-meter concrete bridge in Barangay Mikit in Baganga town.
Stretching to more than two kilometers, the road project is poised to spur socio-economic development in the community by boosting trade and increase farming jobs and household income.
Barangay Mikit, which is home to more than 1,000 residents who are mostly farmers, consists of large swathes of farms with a span of at least 338 hectares of agricultural lands planted to various crops such as coconut, coffee, abaca, and cacao, among many others.
“Everyone here is excited about the new road,” said Mikit Barangay Chair Crisologo Oronan, stressing that the newly paved road will allow them to have easy access to the market to deliver their produce.
He said that unlike before, with only the narrow potholed dirt track they call road, farmers transport their produce using only motorcycles. But now with the leveled, widened and concreted path, big trucks can now easily enter the village down to the farms to load farmers’ harvested crops.
For farmers here, the new road will bring them a myriad of opportunities such as increase in production of agricultural commodities as they can now easily access technology in farming. The concrete road will also lessen damage of agricultural products during transport which means increase profit for them.
Aside from cutting transport cost, the new road also cuts transport time from 40 minutes down to 10 minutes, according to project engineers. Residents here say that with the new road, it is now easier for them to reach schools, hospitals, and other amenities at the town center. In addition, basic government services can now easily reach their village.
PARTNERS BUILDING PATH TO DEVELOPMENT
The implementation of this big-ticket road project involves a lot of convergence efforts among all stakeholders.
Initiated by First District Representative Corazon N. Malanyaon during her term as Governor of the Province, this project was implemented under the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP). The project was funded through a counterparting scheme with the World Bank funding 80 percent of the total cost through loan proceeds; the Department of Agriculture shouldering 10 percent and the Provincial Government shelling out the remaining 10 percent.
Rep. Malanyaon said this project is a testament of the Provincial Government’s commitment to reduce poverty in the countryside by empowering people through the provision of necessary infrastructure to support their livelihood.
Under Malanyaon’s leadership, the Provincial Government was able to construct and inaugurate in 2014 Mindanao’s biggest irrigation system – the Cateel Irrigation Project. This has established Davao Oriental’s track record in the World Bank and the MRDP (PRDP’s forerunner), making it easier for the province to avail of World Bank-funded projects amidst stringent documentary requirements. By Karen Lou Deloso/Photo by Eden Jhan Licayan
