By EDWIN O. FERNANDEZ
COTABATO City– Local officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) were elated by additional allocation of P10 billion for infrastructure projects in the region in support of the southern peace process.
ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and his regional public works secretary, Engineer Don Mustapha Loong, separately announced that residents of the autonomous region stand to benefit from an additional P10 billion infrastructure package this year.
“We thank President Aquino, the House of Representatives and the Senate for all of these good tidings,” Hataman told reporters during the weekly news conference here.
Included in the package, according to Hataman, will cover the rehabilitation of old roads and the construction of new arterial networks.
Also in the pipeline were 45 ports in seaside trading centers in coastal towns, and 91 water supply systems all over the province.
ARMM is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
Loong said a fraction of the P10-B fund will be used to build 500 kilometers more of roads interconnecting municipalities in the region.
To date, the Hataman administration has a 71.3 percent accomplishment of projects funded out of the region’s public works subsidy for last year.
Loong said the ARMM government had also earmarked the construction of 13 bridges, 17 seaports and 12 drainage systems in oft-flooded areas using money from its 2014 infrastructure subsidy.
“These projects will boost the region’s tourism industry and will attract more tourists and potential business capitalists in the region as peace foundation has been laid down in ARMM,” Loong said.
Mayor Ibrahim Ibay of Paragn town and Abduradzak Tomawis of Barira town also signed a special agreement on the implementation of P214 million worth of infrastructure projects in the two municipalities.
Both mayors vowed to fully support the construction of the Padang-Padang Park access road, the Sarmiento-Landasan road, the Parang-Barira road and Matanog-Barira-Buldon road.
Part of the P214 million grant will be spent for the construction of the Tagudtungan and Litayin seaports in Bongo Island, which is about five kilometers off Parang, and the rehabilitation of the Polloc Port, also in Parang.
A major water system project will be put up in Barira, a known bailiwick of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which the government entered into a peace deal last year.
A P197 worth infrastructure projects are expected to be completed within the year. This include the concreting of the 17-kilometer Maraning-Marang-Marang Road in Languyan town in Tawi-Tawi that will connect fishing villages leading to Bonga, the island’s capital.
Hataman urged those watching how ARMM officials run the affairs of the regional government to conduct probe and investigation how government funds are spent for the projects as part of its transparency program.
In Basilan, Lamitan City Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay on Monday welcomed infrastructure projects intended for the island and the city.
“It will hasten the bilateral efforts of Malacañang and the present ARMM administration to restore normalcy in Basilan,” he said in a statement. pna
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