Baguio City – Members of the Regional Project Advisory Board (RPAB) in CAR approved P16-million worth of enterprise subprojects for upgrading from the provinces of Apayao, Kalinga and Mountain Province plus one on-going subproject in Benguet subjected to a variation order in a meeting held on November 28, 2017 here.

The Province of Apayao proposed an enterprise to develop the processing of banana, one of the top crops of the province, into a better and bigger income generating enterprise.  The province has proposed the Banana Chips Processing and Marketing enterprise with the Timpuyog ti Pudtol Multi-Purpose Cooperative as proponent group.  This micro enterprise proposal, with a proposed project cost of P2.45 million pesos seeks for an upgrading of an already existing banana chips processing business aimed at maximizing the operation of a banana processing centre, through the purchase of necessary equipment needed for said enterprise.

On the other hand, the Province of Kalinga, through the Kalinga Rice Terraces Farmers Agriculture Cooperative as proponent group, proposed for the Consolidation, Processing and Marketing of Kalinga Heirloom Rice, a small enterprise with project cost of  a little more than P7.5 million, aiming to promote the heirloom rice varieties of Kalinga and to revitalize farmers’ interest to maintain their rice terraces as an economically viable source of livelihood.

Likewise, Mountain Province has proposed for the upgrading of their heirloom rice enterprise through the Barlig Development Cooperative as proponent group, having proposed for the Mountain Province Heirloom Rice Consolidation, Processing and Marketing enterprise with project cost of more than P6-million to upgrade said enterprise through the acquisition of consolidation, processing and marketing facilities plus hauling vehicle.  The enterprise is said to principally increase the income of heirloom rice farmers in Mountain Province, provide employment, increase traded volume of heirloom rice and increase milling recovery as well.

Meanwhile, the Province of Benguet also presented for re endorsement  of the RPAB for the variation order of  the Construction of Slope Protection in Beckel, La Trinidad, Benguet worth P8,013,000.00 which was originally worth P6,311,229.25, due to  the additional unforseen but necessary construction works.

Found to be environmentally sound, financially feasible, technically and economically viable, the RPAB members endorsed the enterprise proposals as well as the variation order for approval and issuance of No Objection Letters 1 and 2 after a series of comprehensive reviews by the Luzon A Project Support Office as well as the National Project Coordination Office. ## (MBZabala, RPCO CAR InfoACE)