DA to push Alegria’s P68M water supply system to PRDP

CEBU, Philippines – A P68-million integrated potable water supply system for Alegria town, Cebu to be funded by the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) is now up for endorsement.

The regional Department of Agriculture (DA) said the project will be endorsed to the PRDP’s Project Support Office Visayas Cluster for review and then to the National Project Coordination Office (NPCO).

The PRDP’s Regional Project Advisory Board (RPAB) recently approved the water project which, the DA-7 said, will benefit eight barangays in the municipality with around 3,000 households as beneficiaries.

Moreover, Gerry Avila, agribusiness chief of DA-7, earlier revealed that a P48.2-million farm-to-market road (FMR) in Sagbayan town, Bohol has already started construction early this month. This is the first implemented PRDP project in Central Visayas since the World Bank-funded project started last year.

The DA-7 said around 3,000 farmers in the municipality will benefit from the road project which, it said, will lessen travel time and transport cost in bringing farm produce to the market. The project is to be completed in 250 days.

Another three FMRs for Bohol and four for Cebu had been endorsed already to the NPCO but have not yet started construction.

Avila said he was hoping any of these will also be implemented within the year, granting the necessary requirements are complied.

The RPAB, being part of PRDP’s implementation structure, is tasked to review and approve all sub-projects at the regional level and on project improvement.

The six-year PRDP is worth P27.5 billion, an amount composed of financing from the World Bank (P20.5 billion), Global Environment Facility (P287 million), national government (P3.6 billion) and local government units’ equity (P3.1 billion). The PRDP aims to improve the agriculture sector and boost the income of farmers.