Mindanao road to bring needed development

Manila: A new road linking several areas in central Mindanao lying along the fringes of the Liguasan Marsh is expected to bring development to remote municipalities.

Residents in four remote municipalities in Maguindanao province can now travel safely and efficiently to the main highway running from Makilala in North Cotabato to Tacurong City, with the completion of a road infrastructure project undertaken through a US-Philippines partnership.

The 15.3km provincial road section, which traverses the municipalities of Buluan, Pandag, Paglat, and SK Pendatun, connects with the national highway in Buluan Poblacion.

These communities, which have lagged in economic development, lie along the fringes of the Liguasan Marsh. The completed infrastructure project was turned over yesterday to the Maguindanao provincial government by the US government, a report reaching Manila said.

The US government was represented by US Deputy Chief of Mission Leslie Bassett and Acting Mission Director Reed Aeschliman of the US Agency for International Development (USAid).

A statement quoted Basset as saying the project will help foster peace and development in this conflict-affected area of Mindanao.

Growth with equity

Philippine government officials who attended the turnover ceremony included Secretary Luwalhati Antonino, Chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority, Governor Mujib Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Representative Simeon Datumanong (Maguindanao 2nd District) and Maguindanao Governor Esmail Mangudadatu.

The US-funded project was implemented by USAid's Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) programme in partnership with the provincial government, which provided a counterpart contribution of about 26 per cent of the total project cost.

The upgraded road, consisting of all-weather gravel sections and concrete sections, is expected to significantly improve residents' access to markets, business centres, schools, hospitals and government services.

With the completion of the project, travel time from SK Pendatun, the most remote of the four municipalities, is expected to be reduced from one hour to approximately 20 minutes.

The Liguasan Marsh area, which consists of some 288,000 hectares of wetland support a huge variety of aquatic wildlife, including 20 species of fish, three species of reptiles and more than 20 species of waterfowl, herons, egrets and ducks. It is also believed to hold considerable reserves of natural gas.

The US in partnership with local governments has built more than 1,450 infrastructure projects in Mindanao's conflict-affected areas.