PGMA orders DPWH to work 24/7 to ensure completion of Zamboanga West Coast project by June 30

By Faye P. Velasco

TAMPILISAN, Zamboanga del Norte Mar 12(PNA) - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to work 24/7 on the P4.3-billion Zamboanga West Coast project and complete it by June 30.

The President issued the marching order when she visited today the new town of Baliguian, in this province, to inspect the 175.724-kilometer road that is vital to the development and progress of the region which forms part of the Agribusiness Mindanao Super Region.

The President’s visit here is a resumption of her Agribusiness Mindanao tour which kicked off last Feb. 16 by visiting Northern Mindanao.

The Zamboanga West Coast Road will complete the circumferential road of the Zamboanga Peninsula and is expected to influence the economic growth of the municipalities of Sibuco, Sirawai, Siocon, Baliguian, Gutalac, Labason and Liloy. The road project ends at the junction of the Sindangan-Ipil National Road.

“Before, there is no inspiration to production because there were no roads. Zamboanga Peninsula’s bounty marine harvest like squids, lobsters and fish could not be transported to nearby towns and provinces,” the President, speaking in the Cebuano dialect, said in her message at the Jose Rizal Memorial State University here.

“Productivity is important to progress,” the President added, saying that the road project called “Triple S B Road” will benefit the municipalities of Sirawai, Sibuco, Siocon and Baliguian.

Meanwhile, the President told the students of the Jose Rizal Memorial State University that quality education must be backed up by technology as she stressed that technology is important to agriculture and the development of Mindanao as the country’s food basket in the south.

“There must be proper methods of agronomy, agricultural technology,” she said.

She also pointed out that connectivity through roads, bridges, ports and communication will pave the way to a very progressive agricultural Mindanao.

Public Works Secretary Victor Domingo, in an interview, said the first 100 kilometers of the Zamboanga West Coast Road have been paved and the remaining 75.7 kilometers will be “asphalted” by June 30, except for one bridge that will be finished a month later.

He said the road project was funded by the national government. “It's Katas ng VAT,” he said.

Mindanao supplies 40 percent of the country's food requirements and contributes more than 30 percent to the national food trade.

Agribusiness Mindanao covers Regions 9 to 12, CARAGA except Siargao, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
LAP/FPV