P634 Million Bridge, Road, Housing Projects In Negros Island Region To Be Completed By 2017

About P634.524 million worth of bridge, road, housing projects were identified for Negros Island Region (NIR) this year, an official said.

Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., who chairs the Regional Development Council (RDC), said the projects include big ticket projects in the region.

These projects include construction activities in Bacolod City amounting to P376.411 million, the Bayawan-Mabinay Road worth P243.113 million, and the mangrove propagation in Sagay City at P15 million.

In Bacolod City, the projects include the construction of revetment with floodwall in Magsungay River at P92.516 million; Lupit River at P92.224 million; Mandalagan River at P136.359 million; and dredging of Mandalagan River at P55.312 million.

The construction work in Magsungay River and Lupit River are almost 50 percent complete, while the accomplishment rate in the two projects at Mandalagan River is 12 percent.

The projects are expected to be completed next year.

Negotiation for the relocation of illegal settlers who will be affected with the projects in Mandalagan is on-going. Currently, 80 families were already affected.

For the Bayawan-Mabinay Road in Negros Oriental, two of the projects are in Bayawan City with a length of 7.19 kilometers (km) while the one in Mabinay is 1.59-km long.

The two projects in Bayawan are 25 percent complete, while 87 percent of the Mabinay construction is completed.

Unfavorable weather condition and acquisition of right of way stalled the construction work in Bayawan.

The Department of Public Works and Highway is targeting to finish the projects next month.

In Sagay City, the P15-million mangrove propagation is seen to mitigate the effects of climate change through protection, rehabilitation and proper management.

The project covers the 32,000-hectare Sagay Marine Reserve, which is composed of Carbin Reef, Mahaculom and Panal Reef, Molocaboc Daku, Diot Islands and Suyac Islet.

Also tackled during the NIR-RDC meeting was the three resettlement sites in the cities of Cadiz and Sagay, which were the hardest hit localities when super typhoon Yolanda battered the region in 2013.

In Cadiz City, 475 of the 1,000 units in Antonino Heights are already occupied while 85 of the 500 are occupied in Len-Vil Homes.

The site has lack of water and power while 394 of the 1,000 units in Sagay City are already occupied.

Overall, 1,019 Yolanda-affected families in Negros Occidental were relocated.

Source: Sunstar Bacolod