COA: Nueva Ecija’s P100-M grain drying facilities have been idle for years

The Commission on Audit (COA) has called on the Nueva Ecija provincial government to salvage 10 grain-drying facilities that have been idle for almost a decade to prevent wasting its P100-million cost.

In its value-for-money audit, the COA said only three of the 10 facilities, meant to help rice farmers store their produce in the rainy season and command better prices, were deemed “operational.”

These surviving facilities are located in the towns of Llanera, Sto. Domingo, and Zaragoza. The last time these were used was in 2009.

The rest of the facilities – in the towns of Quezon, Licab, Aliaga, Peñaranda, San Leonardo, Cabiao, and Jaen – had been left to rot, COA observed.

Its technical audit showed that not one of the facilities built in 2001 had been in use long enough to recoup the cost or even pay for the expenses to keep them running.

Even when the dryers were still operating, farmers tended to avoid using them as they would have to pay prohibitive fees of P25 to 35 per bag to squeeze out the moisture from their grains. Besides the fees, the farmers were even made to bring their own gas.

The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist ended up collecting only P1.2 million in fees from 2007 to 2009.

Due to disuse and lack of proper maintenance, the dryers broke down one by one. The facility in San Leonardo was used only once, during the wet season of 2007, as its electric wire was stolen that November. There was no budget to replace the wire.

COA faulted the provincial agriculturist’s office and the provincial general services office for lapses in monitoring the projects.

Besides the state of disrepair, COA noted that the facilities were built not on public land but on 1,000-square meter lots donated by various private owners.

The setup was deemed “somehow disadvantageous to the government” because the donation only remains effective so long as the dryers are in use. After that, the properties revert back to the donor or his heirs.

According to COA, the provincial administrator disclosed in an exit conference that the provincial government would seek the help of the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization of the Department of Agriculture in rehabilitating the facilities.

COA also urged the province to consider the legal implications of the land donation scheme. /atm