By Manuel T. Cayon / Mindanao Bureau Chief
DAVAO CITY—The Department of Agriculture (DA) has approved the rehabilitation of a farm-to-market road (FMR) in Davao del Norte costing P56.93 million, an official of the regional DA office here said on Wednesday.
The FMR is in the outskirts of Panabo City, Davao del Norte. The DA said funds for the project will come from the World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP).
The road project will link the barangays of Little Panay, Katipunan and Kasilak and would cover 8 kilometers.
A statement released by the DA office here quoted Kagawad Kristito Juanillo of Barangay Kasilak as saying that “the average travel time incurred from farm to market is 45 minutes and this would be shortened to 15 minutes once the road would be constructed.”
“We waited too long for this project. The papers went lengthy and critical screening. The people here are very eager to utilize the facility,” Juanillo said.
DA Assistant Regional Director Febe Orbe said the FMR “would ease the burden of farmers in bringing their produce to market and keeping their produce in good quality.”
“The roads would open various economic opportunities and, at the same time, enable the local government to improve delivery of basic services in the area,” Orbe said.
The DA said the rehabilitated FMR would benefit 6,176 household in the three barangays including the 862 tribal residents.
Orbe, who is also the PRDP deputy director in the region, said the project would want both the construction of the infrastructure and enterprise and also “to promote science-based tools such as value-chain analysis and geo-tagging.”
“These tools are expected to promote better planning and transparency in PRPD-covered communities,” he said.
