With the issuance of No Objection Letter 2 (NOL 2), Pre-construction Conferences were held for the civil works of two I-REAP (Enterprise Development) subprojects located in Barlig, Mountain Province and in Asipulo, Ifugao.

Based on the documents submitted and on the basis of the information provided, the Project Support Office (PSO) Luzon A of the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) issued “No Objection” to the award of contract for the civil works of the Mountain Province Heirloom Rice Consolidation, Processing and Marketing Enterprise amounting to P2, 485,000.00 and to the civil works of the Ifugao Coffee Processing and Marketing Enterprise (Rehabilitation of Coffee Processing (Ground) Center) amounting to P4,492,093.31.

A pre-construction conference, or pre-con are scheduled and conducted prior to the actual construction. Key players such as the contractors, proponent LGU and proponent groups (PGs), and also representatives from the PRDP Regional Project Coordination Office-CAR (RPCO-CAR) were present to discuss subproject implementation processes in detail.

Topics discussed included an overview of the subproject, sequence of activities, contractor’s obligations, I-BUILD implementation procedures, Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES), Geo-mapping and Governance, and Finance among others.

Christian Aries Salgado of the RPCO-CAR Procurement Unit said that within three (3) calendar days from the date of approval of the Contract by the appropriate government approving authority, the procuring entity shall issue its Notice to Proceed (NTP) to the bidder.

Meanwhile, for the Ifugao Coffee Processing and Marketing Enterprise, the construction of the satellite buying stations in barangay Pula and Camandag in Asipulo as part of its civil works were already completed last August of 2019.

Upon the start of construction works, these civil works are expected to be completed after more or less 210 calendar days. || ELVY S. TAQUIO (DA-PRDP RPCO-CAR InfoACE Unit)