A P 120-billion project that would connect at least three towns in Negros Oriental to a former rebel-infested Tamlang Valley is seen to pave the way for progress and development, an official said Monday.
Alejandro Rafal, head of the Department of Agriculture-Provincial Agriculture Technology Coordinating Office in Negros Oriental, told the media Monday that the project has sought funding from the Philippine Rural Development Project.
The multi-billion project includes two farm-to-market road networks connecting barangay Datagon in Pamplona town in the northwest to barangay Dobdob in Valencia in the southwest; and linking Dobdob to the southern town of Sta. Catalina.
This connecting road will pass through Tamlang Valley, once touted as a no-man’s land in the late ‘80s until the early ‘90s at the height of the insurgency in the Province, and is now being pushed for a massive agro-industrial development project.
The project scheme entails a 10 percent counterpart from the provincial government which has since committed to shell out about P12 billion for the project, Rafal said.
Gov. Chaco Sagarbarria said the local counterpart is already available while preparatory works are being completed for submission to the Rural Development Project.
The DA has also already allocated P10 million for the conduct of a feasibility study.
Additionally, about 55 percent of the program of work and detailed engineering design have been completed, Rafal said.
He added that the PRDP, a World Bank-supported project, aims to increase rural incomes, and enhance the farming and fisheries sectors.
On Monday, the Province requested a re-orientation of the PRDP for a new Provincial Project Implementation Unit.
Officials from the PRDP and DA in Region 7 were present during the meeting and re-orientation attended by the different offices and sectors comprising the Province’s Implementation Unit, Rafal said.
The massive road network project for the development of Tamlang Valley is highly dependent on how fast the provincial government can comply with the PRDP’s requirements, Rafal added. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
