NegOr town's infra projects on track despite pandemic

DUMAGUETE CITY, May 11 (PIA) -- Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the municipal government of Zamboanguita remains on track with its major infrastructure projects for the benefit of its residents.

Zamboanguita Mayor Glenson Alanano, in his interview with Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Asec. JV Arcenas over the Network Briefing News (NBN) program, said the local government pushed through with its road concreting projects and construction of water work systems in various barangays.

"Madami tayong projects in spite of pandemic. Hindi ito nahinto kasi mayroon tayong date na dapat i-comply (We embarked on various projects despite the pandemic. We did not stop because we have a target completion date that we have to comply)," Alanano said.

The local chief executive said the funding for these projects came from the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) and from Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go who provided cash assistance to the municipal government amounting to P8-M for the construction of water systems especially in remote barangays.

Alanano added that the senator also pledged another P5-M assistance to fund the concreting of roads.

The local government unit (LGU) also utilized 20 percent of its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for its development projects.

Another major project of the LGU is the construction of its second Rural Health Unit (RHU) Building or RHU II.

Construction of the said building was temporarily suspended due to the pandemic since the contractor of the project is based in Cebu.

However, Alanano noted that there were some personnel from the Department of Health (DOH-7) who came to the town last week and inspected the status of the project.

He was given assurance that the construction will resume in June this year.

The mayor added that the LGU also extended development interventions to Barangays Mayabon and Calango which are identified as priority areas for the government's End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) program despite the delay of funding from the national government.

"Sa ngayon iyong ginamit natin pag-improve na barangay is 20 percent economic development fund. Dami nakaline up na project for that ELCAC barangays. Hindi pa po na-start ang projects. We are still meeting. Sabi nila maybe next year maumpisahan ang pag-improve ng mga project na prinopose ng ELCAC barangays with the help of the Municipal Development Council (MDC). We are waiting for the response and the budget for that (So far, we used our 20 percent economic development fund for the improvements in the barangays. We have so many projects lined up for these ELCAC barangays. These were proposed by the barangay officials with the help of the MDC but it hasn't started yet. We were told that we can start implementing these projects hopefully by next year)," Alano explained.

In 2019, priority barangays in Zamboanguita proposed for the installation of water pipes, construction of footbridges, road cementing, road railings, street lights, construction of classrooms, purchase of rescue emergency vehicle, construction of drainage canal, irrigation, Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries land titling, and provision of livelihood programs and fertilizer for farmers as development projects to be carried out in their area.

Alanano sought help from the national government in securing funding for their future programs, which include road concreting for paths leading to mountain areas and also to their top tourist attractions.

"Nanawagan ako sana po whatever is our proposal sa national sana ma-respondehan kami. Our roads to the mountain will be concreted most especially, to our sa tourist sports na ma-improve. Sana po the national will give us funds for the development of these spots at ma-increase ang pangkabuhayan sa aming bayan (I am appealing to the national government to respond to our proposals. We are hoping our roads to the mountain will be concreted. We also hope the roads going to our tourist sites will improve. I hope that the national government will give us funds for the developments of these funds and to increase livelihood opportunities in our town)," Alanano said.

Zamboanguita is a fourth class municipality in Negros Oriental that thrives in agriculture and tourism.

Some of the tourist spots in the municipality include its beaches with a scenic view of Apo Island, waterfalls, and the most recent discovery, Nahandig Peak, dubbed as "Little New Zealand" of Zamboanguita.

The primary agricultural products of the town include rice, corn, coffee, and other root crops. (ral/PIA7-Negros Oriental)