In a bid to improve interconnectivity among key strategic hubs in Mindanao, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be conducting a feasibility study on the widening of the Davao-Digos-Cotabato national road as one of its priority projects.
This came as one of the major recommendations during the recent meeting between the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and the DPWH last Monday for the discussion on updating road network masterplan.
“It is essential to widen the Davao-Digos-Cotabato road as the traffic congestion starts to worsen in the area,” MinDA development management officer Maria Vilma Belches said in this week’s edition of Wednesday’s at Habi at Kape sa Abreeza.
The DPWH also expressed commitment to conducting a separate feasibility study for the widening of the Tawi-Tawi Circumferential road which remains uncompleted until today.
The updating of the road network plan is one of the two component of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-assisted project called Improving National Roads for Inclusive Growth in Mindanao Project which aims to attain inclusive growth by improving national road networks all over Mindanao.
Belches said the DPWH announced it will be utilizing the Mindanao Development Corridor (MDC) as part of its criteria in identifying essential projects for connectivity as well as in improving and updating its road network masterplan.
According to MinDA, the MDC “is a spatial development strategy that aims to increase the competitiveness of Mindanao industries by providing them with common service facilities.”
The program, according to MinDA, “also aims to achieve physical integration among key economic clusters in Mindanao in its bid to become self-reliant and internally dependable. The program will also prepare the island-region towards greater economic cooperation with the BIMP-EAGA and other ASEAN-member countries in anticipation for the ASEAN Integration by 2015.”
Belches said the MinDA has been working for the promotion of the MDC for a long time before it was adopted by the DPWH.
“We are very happy that the national government agencies are considering our program to attain inclusive growth in Mindanao,” she said.
The adoption of the MDC will allow the interconnectivity between key hubs in Mindanao as well as improve roads leading to seaports and airports which are necessary in improving the logistics sector the island.
Belches also said the adoption of the program will allow projects of each regional office of the DPWH to complement with each other.
She said at present, the lack of complementation among national government agencies cause redundancy and road leading to “nowhere.”
Aside from masterplan updating, the DPWH will be also improving 13 road networks in Northern Mindanao as part of the implementation of the foreign-assisted project. CHENEEN R. CAPON
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