TABUK CITY, Kalinga – With 94.10 percent physical accomplishment (as of August 15, 2020), the improvement of Bado Dangwa–Guilayon farm-to-market road (FMR) is now scheduled for a ceremonial opening and turnover on September 30, 2020.
Implemented under the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP), the 10.4-kilometer FMR has a project cost of P230.65 million funded by the World Bank with counterpart funding from the DA and the city government of Tabuk.
Engr. Danilo P. Daguio, Deputy Project Director of the Cordillera office of the PRDP Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO-CAR) said that the earlier completion of the FMR is a record breaking accomplishment for a big infrastructure project such as the Bado Dangwa – Guilayon FMR.
“With the subproject’s physical progress, it is expected to be completed six months earlier than the target date of completion or end of project contract,” he said.
Further, Engr. Domingo A. Bakilan, Provincial Agriculturist and head of the Provincial Project Management and Implementing Unit (PPMIU) of Kalinga recalled that the subproject has even reached a positive variance of 36 percent before the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was imposed last March.
According to him, the earlier completion of the FMR subproject can be drawn from the good partnership among the implementing units (PPMIU), the contractors, the PRDP (national, cluster, and regional offices).
“The supervision of the DA-PRDP from PSO, RPCO, and the implementing unit is very good and recommendations are well acted upon by the contractors,” said Bakilan, adding that they did not encounter major social problems such as road right of way issues and the like.
Engr. Myric P. Ticuala, Rural Infrastructure Engineer assigned in the province of Kalinga further said that the two-month suspension due to quarantine restrictions did not affect the subproject’s timeline since it is way ahead of its schedule.
“Once construction activities were finally allowed to resume, the contractor responsively complied with the construction health and safety guidelines imposed by the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the supplemental guidelines on the Community and Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) for the construction activities to fully resume,” said Ticuala.
The road improvement is being implemented by the Omengan Construction Development Corporation and the Royal Sea Bees Construction, Inc. through a joint venture. Both construction firms have been a contractor of completed PRDP-funded FMRs in Kalinga.
For the scheduled turnover ceremony on September 30, LGU Kalinga has invited DA Secretary William D. Dar as the guest of honor and speaker for the said event. Key personnel from the DA-PRDP National Project Coordination Office (NPCO), Project Support Office (PSO) North Luzon, and RPCO-CAR were invited to participate in the event. By ELVY S. TAQUIO
