Debt servicing eats up 20-percent dev’t fund of Agusan Sur town

Aerial view of the P600-million Integrated Terminal and Public Market in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAKILANG TAMBAY CHANNEL

SAN FRANCISCO, AGUSAN DEL SUR — Residents in this town will see a reduction in other development projects next year.

This is because all of the town’s 20-percent development fund will be used to pay off a P600-million loan used to construct the new Integrated Terminal and Public Market (ITPM).

The town’s 20-percent development fund, totaling P69 million, was originally intended for various development projects.

The project, funded by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), is expected to decongest the old public market while providing a modern terminal facility to the commuting public.

Mayor Grace Carmel Paredes-Bravo said she hoped the new facility would open soon to generate revenues and help defray the expenses.

But even the P69 million from the development fund is still P10 million short of the amount needed to cover next year’s loan principal and interest payments, the mayor said.

The ITPM, a project initiated by the mayor’s predecessor, former mayor Solomon Rufila, was implemented without a feasibility study, contributing to the project’s budget deficit, according to the town’s chief executive.

“We need to expedite the operationalization of the public market and bus terminal to commence revenue collection from occupants as soon as possible,” Bravo said.

She said during her two-hour state of the municipality address on Friday, June 21, that the local government had paid the loan’s interest in the past three years, with the loan’s principal payments plus interest set to start next year.

Aerial view of the P600-million Integrated Terminal and Public Market in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAKILANG TAMBAY CHANNEL

“Yes, this is a huge risk but we are confident and praying that this investment risk will make positive returns for our local economic enterprise,” the mayor said.

“To ensure the profitability of the ITPM we conducted thorough business studies for this to really work and we hope that the public, especially the local business owners, will fully support it,” she added.

The municipal government has engaged the service of two consultants to ensure good financial management and tariff policies for public market occupants and daily tariffs for passenger buses and other public utility vehicles.

But power and water connection have yet to be installed in the new facility, prompting the mayor to request a  P10-million supplemental budget from the Sangguniang Bayan this year to cover the expenses.

The requested amount is hoped to address these essential services at the site and the concreting of a road from the junction leading to the facility, as well as the drainage system.

Bravo urged public market stall owners and other stakeholders to join public consultation meetings to fully understand the upcoming policies regarding the operation of the new facilities.

Situated along the diversion road in Barangay Hubang, about two kilometers from the national highway, the five-hectare new public market and passenger terminal is hoped to alleviate congestion at the old public market. INQ