“The Provincial Government of Quirino is compliant to its Operation and Maintenance Plan and it has constructed structures to protect the farm-to-market roads following the Implementation Management Agreement,” Engr. Edmund Bert Banzali, Regional Project Coordination Office 2 (RPCO 2) Roads and Bridges Specialist bared.

He elaborated that the construction of slope protection, flood control, and line canals was predetermined and included in the attachment of the subprojects when these were proposed.

Banzali is an I-BUILD component representative in the Regional Operations and Maintenance Audit Team (ROMAT) which inspected the four (4) farm-to-market roads (FMRs) in Quirino Province.

The Provincial Government has spent 12.9 million pesos in implementing the operations and maintenance plan (O&M) of the four (4) FMRs funded under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

The ROMAT inspected NRJ-Palacian-Ramos and NRJ-Ligaya-Villa Pagadduan in Aglipay; PRJ-Dibibi-Dingasan in Cabarroguis and NRJ-Maria Clara-Gabriela Silang FMR in Diffun in its second round of assessment. The Team has its first round in Isabela province.

A gabion-type flood control, slope protection, and line canal are constructed in Palacian-Ramos FMR while retaining wall in the residential area, line canal and stone masonry are interventions constructed by the province in Dibibi-Dingasan and Maria Clara-Gabriela Silang FMRs respectively.

Meanwhile, the redefining of slope and side ditch is ongoing in Villa Pagaduan and also some parts of Palacian, Dibibi, and Maria Clara.

“We have programmed maintenance semi-annually and budget has been allocated for this. We have constructed those interventions because it was our pledge when we proposed those subprojects,” Engr. Robert Salvador, member of Quirino Provincial Project Management and Implementing Unit (PPMIU) said.

While most of the segments reblocked and were under existing concrete pavement have critically deteriorated, the PCCP segments funded under PRDP are in shipshape condition. (Dr. Ferdinand N. Cortez, RPCO2 InfoACE)