Tuguegarao City – Another I-BUILD subproject for the Province of Cagayan, namely the “Rehabilitation of Alcala East Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) with Bridges, with an estimated project cost of P203 million has been unanimously approved on the 8^th Regional Project Advisory Board (RPAB) meeting of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) held on June 18, 2016 at the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 02 (DA-RFO 02).

The Cagayan Provincial Project Management and Implementing Unit (PPMIU) presented the enhanced FMR proposal after comments from previous RPAB meeting were incorporated to include the costs of five (5) bridges, social and environmental safeguards interventions, and assurances of sustainability for the proposed road in support of the dairy industry in the province.

Said FMR covers 6 barangays in the eastern part of Alcala spanning over 13.3 kilometers with seven (7) one-lane, one-span overflow bridges. The proposal included upgrading five of these bridges into a Reinforced Concrete Deck Girder (RCDG) worth Php 17.69 million while the existing graveled road will be replaced with portland cement concrete pavement to link household beneficiaries to the marketing and production areas of dairy amounting to P185.6 million.

In compliance to the guidelines set by the World Bank, the RCDG structural design was reviewed by a structural engineer to conform with the design standards of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), including requirements on the location and sources of quarries, borrow pits and construction materials which were certified by the said agency.

“The Project Support Office (PSO) already cautioned us that all rules and standards from DPWH must be followed and to conform with the guidelines on the construction of roads and bridges”, said Cagayan PPMIU Head Dr. Mildred S. Abella in response to a query regarding compliance to the necessary prerequisites needed for the construction of the project.

Before approving the project proposal, a member of the RPAB asked about the sustainability of the project after its turn over to the municipality.

Dr. Freddie B. Corsino, PRDP-RPCO2 Action Officer and concurrent InfoACE Unit Head responded that all Provincial Local Government Units (PLGUs) are required to allocate a maintenance fund for a period of ten (10) years after the project completion and its turn-over as stipulated in the Implementation Management Agreement (IMA). For its part, Cagayan has already included the road maintenance in its Annual Appropriations specifying the cost sharing scheme between the Municipality of Alcala and the Provincial Government of Cagayan. (Jaycee Capalungan, InfoACE RPCO2)