By Cielito M. Reganit
MANILA, July 22 (PNA) — The government, under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III, has ceased the practice of building “all-weather” gravel farm-to-market roads (FMRs) as it resolved as early as July 2010 to build only concrete FMRs throughout the country that could withstand the effects of climate change.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that besides being climate-resilient, concrete FMRs have been proven to be cost-effective in the long run.
“Many of these gravel FMRs are damaged or disappear altogether after a flood or typhoon. The Department of Agriculture (DA) would then receive new requests to rebuild the same roads. The result was huge amounts being spent on roads that are repaired or rebuilt over and over,” he said.
The Agriculture chief said that construction and repair of gravel roads has oftentimes in the past, also involved other issues such as favored contractors and duplication of projects.
“These have pushed the DA to advocate for the construction of concrete FMRs only. The DA has mainstreamed climate change adaptation in all its projects and this entails building climate-resilient infrastructure such as FMRs and bridges,” Alcala said.
The government official admitted though that partner financing agencies objected at first on the idea of “concrete FMRs only,” citing the high cost of constructing such infrastructure.
“We explained to them that the ₱10 million standard cost of a kilometer of six-inch-thick, five-meter-wide concrete FMRs, following Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) standards, would be cheaper than constructing and reconstructing gravel roads, particularly with worsening floods due to changing weather patterns,” he said.
“We strongly believe that the benefits of building concrete FMRs instead of repairing gravel roads every now and then outweighs its costs in the long run, particularly in the context of climate change adaptation,” Alcala said.
At present, the DA is pushing for the construction of more climate-resilient agricultural infrastructure.
Alcala said that the agency has teamed up with 49 provincial and local government units (LGUs) to build a total of 2,440 kilometers of concrete, climate-resilient FMRs worth ₱24.7 billion under the World Bank-assisted Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).
Under the PRDP, LGUs – who also serve as project proponents – will have to share at least 10 percent equity while the World Bank will finance 80 percent of the project, with the remaining expenses to be covered by the DA.
The FMR projects are expected to connect about one million farmers and their farms and enterprises to highways and markets — decreasing production costs, increasing yields and improving farmers’ incomes.
DA officials maintained that all these projects were approved based on careful and extensive feasibility studies, including value chain analyses.
Meanwhile, Alcala stressed that under the PRDP, transparency and accountability is assured in all FMR projects.
“Not only do we ensure that FMRs really link farmers to the market and connect agricultural value chains, we also guarantee that these projects meet prescribed standards of the World Bank and the DPWH as well as conditions set with the contractors,” he said.
“Gone also were the days when FMRs are built for political patronage – when roads were built based on who the proponents were,” Alcala stressed.
He added that the DA is using an innovative Google Earth-based geotagging tool to monitor agricultural infrastructure projects so as to avoid duplications and ensure that FMRs serve their intended purposes.
“Geo-tagging allows computer-based checking of road proposals, as well as monitoring from construction until completion,” Alcala said.
Developed by the DA under the Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP), the tool has been adopted by other agencies not only for roads but also for other infrastructure projects.
The DA received the NEDA Good Practice Award in 2012 for this innovation, which has also been recognized by the World Bank as a Global Best Practice recommended for replication in other countries.
“Dahil sa ‘Tuwid na Daan’ magkakaroon na tayo ng mas matibay na mga daan,” Alcala said.
“Tuwid na daan” (straight path) is the Aquino administration’s catchphrase for its good governance agenda. (PNA)