ARMM to fast track P636-M infra projects

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=800628
• Friday, September 4, 2015

(PNA), LAP/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY, Sept. 4 (PNA) -- Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) announced Friday that more than Php636 million worth of infrastructure projects “are expected to roll out immediately” following the signing of two memoranda of agreement today, September 4.

ARMM Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman, who led the signing of the agreements, said the infrastructure projects “will roll out immediately after a series of simultaneous preparations were conducted.”

At least 100 barangays located in 82 towns across the ARMM will benefit from the 2015 ARMM Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Governance and Synergy (HELPS) support infrastructure projects.

ARMM is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

The ARMM’s Integrated Project Management Office (IPMO) oversees the implementation of the 2015 HELPS projects.

It also serves as the fund manager and lead agency in monitoring and evaluation of district engineering offices to ensure high quality, on-time delivery, and consistency with respect to the program of work.

According to Noor Saada, regional director of IPMO-ARMM, 506 HELPS infrastructure projects will be built, amounting to about Php512 million that includes construction of barangay halls; multi-purpose buildings; children’s parks; barangay health stations; water, waste and sanitation facilities; botika ng barangay; community learning centers; and support to livelihood activities.

“The projects were identified by residents and stakeholders of target communities,” Saada said.

Details of the projects were communicated with partner line agencies to ensure propriety and complementation, to avoid duplication, and to promote synergy.

Saada noted that ARMM HELPS projects in 2013-2014 have a completion rate of about 80 to 90 percent.

Meanwhile, a memorandum of agreement for the concreting of three roads in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur was also signed on Friday between the region’s Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-ARMM) and three municipal government units.

Engr. Don Mustapha Loong, regional secretary of DPWH-ARMM, said the concreting of three roads is worth Php124 million.

The projects in Maguindanao include the concreting of the four-kilometer Parang-Buldon Road in the towns of Parang and Buldon worth Php72 million and the two-kilometer Macabiso-Namuken Taraken Road in Sultan Mastura worth Php40 million.

The one-kilometer, Php12-million, Tubok Municipal Road in Tamparen, Lanao del Sur will also be built.

The regional government has chosen the three towns as partners in the implementation for their capability to undertake such infrastructure projects.

“These projects are part of the continuing legacy of the reform agenda of Governor Mujiv Hataman and DPWH-ARMM to close the gap in terms of unpaved national, provincial and municipal roads in the ARMM,” Loong told reporters after the signing program.