BACOLOD CITY – Access to remote communities in northern Negros Occidental has improved with the completion of concrete roads built by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The newly paved roads provide convenient mobility to the barangays of Nataban, Rizal, and Prosperidad in San Carlos City, as well as Dolis and Maaslob in Calatrava.
DPWH 6 Regional Director Sanny Boy O. Oropel stated that these roads facilitate better access to far-flung areas, ensuring safer travel for people and more cost-efficient transport of products from farms to markets.
“These roads are essential for creating linkages and increasing opportunities to access basic goods and services. They make it easier for local producers to reach markets and trade centers to sell their products or purchase their needs,” Oropel said.
“Paving these local roads is a significant milestone in rural development. Paved roads have the potential to transform lives by improving accessibility, stimulating economic activities, and enhancing overall living standards,” he added.
Oropel also noted that the improved road conditions benefit not only local farmers and agricultural producers but also residents, especially students, in their pursuit of better education.
“Students will no longer need to spend excessive time traveling from their homes to schools in the town proper. Additionally, basic social, health, medical, and other government services can now be easily delivered to even the most distant communities in the province,” Oropel emphasized.
Meanwhile, OIC-District Engineer Juan Alfonso G. Jorbina, Sr. highlighted that these road concreting projects provide a more efficient route, addressing the transportation challenges people in remote areas previously faced, especially during the rainy season.
“People in these remote areas used to struggle with transporting their agricultural products to the market or buying household needs from the town proper, enduring muddy roads when wet and dusty roads when dry,” Jorbina said.
“With these concrete roads, they can transport their products to the market at a lower cost and in less time, marking a significant leap towards local economic development,” Jorbina added.
The DPWH Negros Occidental Sub District Engineering Office undertook several projects:
- A ₱10-million project in Sitio Handalago, Barangay Nataban, San Carlos City, involved constructing a 1.04-kilometer, 5-meter-wide, 2-lane Portland Concrete Cement Pavement (PCCP) road with 1-meter shoulders on both sides, drainage and slope protection structures, and reflectorized thermoplastic pavement markings.
- A ₱20-million project in Sitio Maragoos, Barangay Rizal, San Carlos City, included constructing a 1.9-kilometer, 5-meter-wide, 2-lane PCCP road with 1-meter shoulders on both sides and a slope protection structure.
- In Barangay Prosperidad, San Carlos City, a ₱10-million project involved constructing a 600-meter-long, 5-meter-wide, 2-lane PCCP road with 1-meter shoulders on both sides, slope protection structures, and reflectorized thermoplastic pavement markings.
- In Calatrava, a ₱20-million project involved constructing a 1.36-kilometer, 5-meter-wide, 2-lane PCCP road with 1-meter shoulders on both sides and a slope protection structure. (DPWH)
