$500-M grant from World Bank

MANILA, Philippines - The World Bank’s Philippine Rural Development Program is allocating a $500-million grant to spur development in the countryside, with Negros Occidental as the pilot area in the implementation of the project.

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. said the grant is for development projects such as farm-to-market roads, water projects, ports, irrigation systems and income-generating projects.

The program is a poverty alleviation measure aimed at improving the economy, he said.

Marañon explained that Negros Occidental will be the first recipient of a grant since the province was the first to submit a project proposal.

The governor said the project could start this month.

The governor said that the DA and the local government units (LGUs) will have a counterpart in all of the identified WB-funded projects.The provincial government is tasked with identifying the projects it wants to be covered by the program.

Under the counterparting agreement, for every project, 80 percent will come from the World Bank, 10 percent from the DA, and 10 percent from the recipient LGU.