Flora, Apayao – Residents and LGU officials here commit full capability and support towards the approval and implementation of the proposed farm-to-market road subproject under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

“Waya-an tayon ken dalusan tayo dayta kalsada ta nu marugian ket awan ton ti problema (Let’s widen and clear the road to avoid problems once it will be implemented),” urged Flora Municipal Mayor Rodolfo B. Juan in his message during the consultation for the Improvement of Sta. Maria-Mallig-Upper Atok FMR held on January 22, 2017 at barangay Sta. Maria.

The consultation intended to inform the beneficiaries of their rights to participate in changing the subproject design and their rights to compensation if any of their properties will be affected.

Meanwhile, the proposed subproject is a 13.6 – km FMR covering three barangays namely Sta. Maria, Mallig and Upper Atok. It is expected to benefit around 437 households with 1,856 population. Other than rice, residents along the proposed subproject also produce banana, pineapple, coconut, ginger, corn and other fruit bearing trees. However, due to the swampy and rugged road condition, residents are hard up in transporting their products all the way to the market area in Flora.

“Ilugan mi ti kariton nga guyuden ti nuwang ket mapan ti upat aginggana lima nga oras nga panagna sakbay kami nga makadanon idjay Sta. Maria (We use a cart pulled by a carabao to transport our products and it will take us about four to five hours of walk before reaching Sta. Maria),” said Roberto Borje, a farmer beneficiary and barangay captain of Upper Atok, which is more than 10 kilometers away from the market area in Sta. Maria.

Rather than walking for hours, some farmers prefer to take the short cut route from Upper Atok to Barangay Aurora of the municipality of Pudtol and take the risk of crossing a river for the sake of selling their products to the market area in Pudtol.

“Mapan maysa oras nu magna kami karayan pa Pudtol ngem nu masimento daytoy kalsada mi ket maymayat koma nu ditoy Flora ti pangipanan min ti produkto mi (It takes less than an hour to reach Pudtol but if the road will be concreted, it will be better if we sell our products in Flora)” added Borje.

At the end of the consultation, Mayor Juan reiterated his full commitment in support to the preparation and completion of documentary requirements for the approval of the proposed FMR subproject. He also advised the residents to conduct a special barangay assembly as an extension of the consultation to discuss issues and other concerns regarding the properties that might be affected. (Elvy S. Taquio, DA-PRDP CARPCO InfoACE Unit)