ARMM to get P10B more in projects from Aquino

COTABATO CITY—At least P10 billion more in infrastructure projects would be completed in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) before the Aquino administration bows out of office next year, officials said.

ARMM Public Works Secretary Don Mustapha Loong said the P10-billion infrastructure program covers key projects in the region’s five provinces.

Loong said the projects include the improvement of some 500 kilometers of municipal and provincial roads, 13 bridges, 17 seaports and 12 drainage structures.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman said the projects also include the concreting of the 17-km Maraning-Marang-Marang Road, an interisland road which forms part of Tawi-Tawi’s circumferential road. The loop would connect the towns of Languyan and Bongao, the province’s capital, with concrete roads and bridges. The two towns are separated by sea and people travel between them on traditional small boats and fast watercraft.

Hataman said rural water projects had been put in place where there used to be none in the remote Sulu villages of Kandaga, Liban, Samok, Bandang Kintaan, Tuyang and Talipao poblacion.

Amid flooding that swept 25 villages in Maguindanao, Loong said the ARMM should also be helping implement the Mindanao River Basin Master Plan of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

He cited as example of a successful project the reconstruction of the Jolo drainage system that helped prevent floods similar to those that devastated the town in 2011.

“There’s just too much water from nearby provinces,” said engineer Zainal Mlok Jr., of the second engineering district office of Maguindanao.

He said the solution is to implement the Mindanao River Basin Master Plan.

Aside from flood control and drainage projects, Loong said roads leading to national heritage and cultural tourism development sites are also being upgraded to boost local tourism.

The Aquino administration is pouring in projects to Muslim autonomous areas alongside its push for a new autonomous system to replace the existing ARMM through the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). Nash B. Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao