By John Noel Herrera
In a meeting Wednesday, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Iloilo together with other government agencies discussed different infrastructure projects for the province.
Board Member Rolando Distura of the 4th district of Iloilo, who led the meeting as chairman of the Committee on Infrastructure, said concreting of provincial roads in the province is still one of the top priorities of the provincial government.
Data showed that in the whole province, 70 percent of provincial roads have been concreted, with 30 percent that needs to be paved.
In the 4th district alone, four provincial roads must be concreted – the junction of the national road at Bungka-Suol in Barotac Nuevo, Lublub-Tamboylan Road in Dumangas, and two other provincial roads in Dingle, Iloilo.
The Qianan-Dungok road in San Joaquin, Bolotupas-Putian raod in Carles, Batuan-Iwa road in Pototan, Damires-Talaba road in Badiangan, Aldeguer-Salcedo road in Sara, Iloilo are also up for concreting.
The national government allocated P30 million through the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the concreting of Cabudyan-Carvasana road in Dueñas, Iloilo.
Distura said these big-ticket projects will have a positive impact on the province’s economy and can help improve the tourism and agricultural sectors of Iloilo.
Aside from concreting of roads, Distura also noted that there are substantial funds for renewable energy projects and the development of the provincial hospital and 12 district hospitals in Iloilo in terms of equipment, facilities, and the human resource personnel services.
The provincial board also supported the “Tulay ng Pangulo” project of Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) by passing a resolution requesting DAR to intercede in the project.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Western Visayas also got the support of the board on the establishment of the satellite multi-marine hatchery in Batad, Iloilo.
Meanwhile, the provincial board promised to help the Philippine Airforce about its problem in terms of access road for its planned new 32-hectare airbase.
Distura also lauded the importance of the meeting as it shows coordination from every agency and said that it should be done regularly to clarify things and talk about possible issues and concerns.
