PASSI CITY– “The proposed  28 kilometers concrete  Farm to Market Road  will  definitely help the people  not only in Passi City but also  in Central Panay which is connected to  other towns  in Iloilo and Capiz  and will link us up   to  11 towns  of the Fifth District of the province” Mayor Jesry T. Palmares , Passi City Mayor said.

Passi City Mayor Jesry T.Palmares

Palmares said,  “  We are very sure this will trigger big socio-economic  upliftment considering the livestock and  other farm products access to market ”.

Once completed the road network will also support and sustain  the peace and order condition and emergency response to mitigate disaster in Central Iloilo.

Both Mayor Palmares and Provincial Governor Arthur  Defensor Sr. committed to extend financial support as their counterpart to implement and complete the project.

A composite engineering team from the Department of Agriculture Central Office, PSO Visayas, Provincial government and the Passi City has conducted an ocular survey on October 28, 2014 to validate technical and social data of the proposed  project.

During the DA Management Committee meeting on Monday November 18 , 2014 Director Larry P. Nacionales, Regional Executive Director of DA-Region 6 said, “once approved the proposed 28 – kilometer FMR will cost P250 Million  to be funded by the Philippine Rural Development Project , a special DA project funded by World Bank”.

Based on official update PSO Visayas has identified 115 kilometers of  proposed FMR projects for the whole Visayas Cluster (Regions 6,7 and 8) under I-Build Component   with an estimated  total cost of P1,006,879,970.81.

For Region 6 covers Toboso and Cadiz, Negros Occidental, Pontevedra and Maayon of Capiz, Passi City, Iloilo and Laua-an in Antique. Region 7 include Balilihan, Catigbian  Loboc and Sagbayan  all inBohol Province, meanwhile in Region 8 priority include Basey and Sta Rita of Eastern Samar,  San Roque, Northern Samar, Balangkayan and Maydolong of  Eastern Samar and Sogod Southern Leyte.

Director Nacionales  urged the  DA-PRDP Management Team to “think out of the box” and relate the livelihood related projects towards a bigger perspective of future socio-economic development for the next five years and beyond.(Richelieu  V. Umel,PSO Visayas Info ACE)