LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Rep. Eric Yap assured the people and officialdom of the province that funds from the national government will be continuously allocated to guarantee the concreting of newly-opened roads leading to remote communities to contribute in spurring economic growth in the countryside.
Yap pointed out that the funds that will be sourced out from the public works department will first be used for the opening of the various road networks earlier programmed by the public works department, and for the succeeding years through the multi-year obligation, the funds that will be made available will be used to fully pave the said roads.
However, he admitted that the concreting of the newly opened roads will take some time because of the limited allocations that can be provided by the public works department but the roads will already be opened and some portions will be concreted during a certain period of time.
Earlier, Yap worked out the allocation of funds to open the roads leading to the remote barangay of Tacadang, Kibungan and Kayapa, Bakun, followed by the opening of roads from Itogon leading to Nueva Vizcaya and Tuba leading to San Manuel, Pangasinan.
Further, he also assured funds for the opening of the road leading to the remote village of Luson, Kabayan aside from earmarking funds for the rehabilitation and improvement of the Balili Road in Mankayan which will be also funded on a similar multi-year obligation.
Yap envisions Benguet to be a first-class province with well-developed roads leading to the remote communities and establishing inter-municipality, inter-provincial and inter-regional linkages with neighboring communities in the Cordillera, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions.
According to him, agriculture industry stakeholders will be the primary beneficiaries of better roads in the province because it will be easier for them to transport their agricultural produce from the farms to the nearest trading centers with the least transportation cost and lesser damages to the products for them to command higher buying prices for their crops.
The lawmakers stipulated he will continue to closely work with concerned government agencies to guarantee the allocation of more funds to Benguet to be able to sustain the implementation of short, medium and long-term priority development projects to spur growth and progress in the rural communities.
He underscored that the presence of good roads in the different parts of the province will be instrumental in enticing investors to establish businesses in strategic areas that will provide increased jobs for qualified residents and better economic activities and sources of livelihood for the people in the said areas.
At present, Benguet remains a second-class province although it is operating like a first class local government unit, especially after having been recognized as the second local government awarded for having generated the highest locally-sourced revenue amidst the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.