A total of 68 projects worth P20.4 million were completed in Sultan Kudarat to promote peace and development, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) reported on Wednesday.
The projects, implemented under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan in Agrarian Reform Areas (Pamana-ARA) were pursued in 68 barangays in the towns of Columbio, President Quirino, Lambayong, Isulan, Senator Ninoy Aquino and Lutayan.
These include 25 solar dryers, nine multipurpose buildings, nine animal dispersals, eight solar dryer with shed, seven construction of fences around barangay halls and schools, six subdivision surveys of barangay sites, two potable water systems, one postharvest facility and one mini rice mill.
DAR Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Rodolfo Alburo said there are 4,739 direct beneficiaries of the projects, 3,155 of them are agrarian-reform beneficiaries (ARBs), 1,328 non-ARBs and 256 indigenous peoples.
Alburo said that other farmers from neighboring barangays could also benefit from the projects.
He said that a solar dryer or a potable water system in a far-flung barangay can also serve residents from neighboring barangays, he said.
Pamana is being implemented in isolated, hard-to-reach conflict-affected communities. Aside from Sultan Kudarat, the program is being implemented in Cordillera, Bicol, Quezon, Mindoro, Samar, Negros, Panay, Davao, Compostella Valley, Caraga, Central Mindanao, Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.