BAUK, Mountain Province – The construction of an 18-kilometer farm to market road within the Mount Data plateau will boost the development of agriculture and ecotourism in this upland municipality and some parts of the nearby town of Tadian.
Mayor Abraham B. Akilit said the issuance of the certificate of no opposition to the road project issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will pave the way for the realization of the road project within the next three years.
Initially, Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala committed to local officials to source out the funding for the first phase of the project from Little Hill to Paktil or Gisgisaan farm to market road which amounts to more or less P50 million for the paving of the 2-way roadline.
“The project will definitely help boost the development of agriculture and ecotourism in the area without sacrificing the preservation and protection of forested areas and the vegetation of existing waterways through the planting of dwarf trees to serve as wind breakers in the future,” Mayor Akilit stressed.
The municipal mayor revealed the government needs at least P200 million for the concreting of the 2-way farm to market road which has a total length of more than 18 kilometers cutting through over 3,00 hectares of the Munt Data plateau where over 1,000 farmers with vegetable farms along it will directly and indirectly benefit from its completion.
According to him, the initial funding for the project will be sourced out from the agriculture department while the remaining funds for the completion of the project will come from the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP), a foreign-assisted agriculture development project that involves the building of road networks that will connect farms in the rural areas to major road networks leading to the markets.
Akilit added major requirements such as surveys among others were already completed and submitted to the concerned agencies for consideration in order to facilitate the release of the initial funds to start the first phase of the project.
He appealed to local residents and concerned sectors in the municipality to support the realization of the project because it will contribute to the significant growth of the agriculture and ecotourism industries coupled with the expected emergence of alternative sources of livelihood that will provide a value added to the sources of livelihood of the people living in the communities therein.
Further, he cited the improvement of the different farm to market roads in the Mount Data plateau will help in the dis-establishment of Mount Data as a forest reservation and allow more than 1,000 farmers to eventually own the lands that they currently till as a moor source of their livelihood in the area.
It was during the time of Akilit that the municipality was able to access substantial financial and technical assistance from concerned government agencies that have spurred the increase of various income-generating activities, livelihood opportunities which were able to provide sustainable jobs and additional sources of livelihood for the local residents in the different barangays.
Akilit cited strengthening the town’s agriculture and ecotourism industries through the improvement of road networks will be instrumental in spurring increased economic activities and sources of livelihood of the people in the countryside which will translate to the effective and efficient mode of preserving and protecting the environment of the locality being the headwaters of the Chico, Agno, Magat and Abra river systems.
By Dexter A. See
