NIA gets new administrator

There’s a news man at the helm of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

The new NIA chief is engineer Baltazar H. Usis whom President Arroyo appointed administrator in place of Proceso Domingo who was appointed presidential assistant under the Office of the President. Domingo, who hails from Cabanatuan City, served as NIA chief for nine months, starting last January.

Usis, the regional irrigation manager of NIA Region 4 based in Pila, Laguna, was appointed by President Arroyo last Sept. 9. He took his oath of office last Oct. 18 before Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban.

But his assumption was delayed as the promotion papers of his predecessor were being processed.

A native of Dasmariñas, Cavite, Usis rose from the ranks and has been with the NIA for the past 32 years. His area of specialization include management of people with focus on operation, maintenance and project implementation.

A Mapua graduate, he was a recipient of the most outstanding irrigation superintendent award given by NIA in 1992. In 1989, he attended special studies on monitoring, evaluation and management of agricultural irrigation systems at the Colorado State University, USA.

He also held in various capacities the posts of president of the Irrigation Superintendent Association of the Philippines (ISAPHIL), vice president for Luzon of the Association of Regional Directors and Operation Managers (ARDOMA) and president of the Rotary Club of Dasmariñas, Cavite.

In a speech during turnover ceremonies at the NIA central office in Edsa, Quezon City, Usis vowed to pursue the marching orders given him by President Arroyo for NIA to deliver quality service to the agency’s premiere clientele, the farmers.

He noted that while the country’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.3 percent this year, this is contingent on the growth of agriculture.

It is on this respect, he said, that NIA will play a crucial role since irrigation is deemed a catalyst of agricultural development.

Usis urged the NIA’s field offices to perform better since they are at the frontline of services to the farmers.

His administration’s major concern is how to make the agency viable, particularly by further intensifying the collection of irrigation service fees (ISFs) which make up 70 percent of the agency’s revenues.

Usis said NIA, in coordination with the Deparment of Agriculture under Secretary Panganiban, will prioritize cost-efficient irrigation projects, particularly in the rural areas.

These will include rehabilitation and improvement of existing irrigation systems and construction of communal irrigation systems (CIS) particularly in areas not reached by national irrigation systems (NIS).