BAUKO, Mountain Province – The municipal government has set an example in convincing local residents to donate portions of their private properties which were traversed by the road-right-of-way along the P94 million Mabaay-Abatan-Tadian road which could be worthy of emulation in other localities encountering similar problems for the benefit of the greater majority of the people.
Mayor Abraham B. Akilit said local officials personally conducted series of consultations among barangay officials and affected property owners to explain to them the benefits of the concreting and widening of the road that would affect a portion of their properties.
“We explained to them that the property owners and their dependents will be the ones to directly benefit from the implementation of concreting and widening projects because the value of their real estate properties will skyrocket aside from the recognition that will be earned by their family for their monumental contribution for the realization of the rehabilitation of roads,” Akilit stressed.
After inculcating to the minds of the property owners the importance of getting portions of their properties for the benefit of the public, Akilit said that they inquire from them on whether or not they have some demands which could be addressed by concerned government agencies and the local government before everything will be put in place.
He commended the property owners along the Mabaay-Abatan-Tadian road for sharing a portion of their properties to be taken as part of the road-right-of-way without demanding for excessive compensation because they were able to understand the long-term benefits of having well-paved and widened roads that will contribute in spurring economic growth in the locality.
“We are happy because the property owners were able to understand the true meaning of infrastructure development. We also congratulate the barangay officials for their involvement in convincing them to give portions of their properties for better roads leading to the inner parts of the town,” he said.
According to him, the minimal demands of the property owners, particularly the employment of their qualified family members to work as laborers for the projects and for some of them to do the slope protection works among others, were effectively addressed by the concerned government agencies.
He recommended to the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Public \Works and Highways (DPWH) to include barangay and municipal officials in areas where their convergence projects will be implemented as institutional partners, especially in the settlement of road-right-of-way conflicts, in order to have a much easier time to settle the priority concerns that tend to delay the completion of major infrastructure projects regiowide.
Mayor Akilit said the local government will adopt such best practice in settlement of road-right-of-way conflicts in future infrastructure projects in the locality which will be their contribution in order to guarantee the smooth implementation of major infrastructure projects funded by concerned government agencies that will bring forth inter-connectivity among barangays in the future.
By Dexter A. See
