Barangay Captain Josephine L. Tacang recalls the difficulty of transportation every time they traversed the unpaved roads covered with potholes in Dolla Norte, Oroquieta City back in 1992.

“Before, we only relied on carabaos to deliver our products to market which resulted in high transportation costs. Our delayed deliveries also increased our post-harvest losses which in turn lowered our profits. On rainy days, we suffered more because the running water washed away the gravel and turned our roads muddy and impassable,” said Tacang.

For many years they waited for assistance from the government to help them rehabilitate the existing rough road in their barangay. Although, there were regular efforts to clear or bulldoze the road every year, these efforts were not sustainable nor long lasting. So, they submitted proposals to the local government unit (LGU) expressing their desire to have a concreted road in their community.

As they were about to lose all hope for a concrete road, the Local Government Unit of Oroquieta City was able to avail support from the Department of Agriculture- Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) for the concreting of Dolipos Alto – Dullan Norte FMR.

“This road project is really a great help for us especially that our barangay will now become accessible to different vehicles and soon when we harvest our cacao, we can deliver it to the market easily or buyers can come to us directly,” said farmer Arnold Barrido.

The said FMR has a total length of 4.83 kilometers and will start at barangay Dolipos Alto until the boundary of Dullan Norte and Dullan Sur. It will have a width of 10 meters which already includes drainage canals on both sides of the road. This road constitutes nearly 1/4 of the total roads in the influence area.

The road construction is now on  its 35.56% completion. Barangay Captain Tacang ensures that they really help in monitoring the road works in their barangay.

“As of now, the construction is on-going and I informed my barangay officials and members here to monitor the road construction. We already know what to do after we were trained in Citizen Monitoring Training (CMT). After the construction, our barangay will craft an ordinance that will help in maintaining this road like putting limits on truck load,” said Brgy. Captain Tacang.

This subproject aims to reduce the hauling costs of all commodities from P50  to P40 per sack. Aside from that, it is also targeted to reduce travel time by 50% from 40 minutes to 20 minutes, to reduce transportation losses, and increase traffic count.

According to Brgy. Kagawad Vincente Docop he is aiming to boost the agriculture in their area since he was put in charge of the Agriculture Committee.

“I will create a program that will require our members to plant and go back to farming although generally, there are a lot who are starting to farm again. We are really thankful for this project,” said Docop.

Since the beginning of the road works in their community, barangay officials observed an increase in the number of residents in the area. Those who left before are now returning after they learned about the new improvement in their place.

Once completed, a total of 755 households will benefit from this project. (Joy Montecalvo)