At least 20,000 farmers in Aklan province will soon benefit from the farm-to-market road (FMR) projects of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the provincial government.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said at least 1,924 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), and 19,123 non-ARBs “will soon experience the ease of transporting their products to the market”.
Eliserio Aguelo, an ARB from Barangay Naile in Ibajay town, said they are all looking forward to the completion of the projects as this would greatly help them transport their agricultural products to the market and be able to sell them at a more reasonable price to the public.
“Hindi na kailangang maglakbay ang mga magsasaka at residente sa maputik at madulas na kalsada para lamang makapunta sa kabayanan. Sa wakas, natupad din ang aming pangarap. Salamat sa DAR (Farmers and residents no longer have to travel on muddy and slippery roads just to get to town. Finally, our dream came true. Thanks to DAR),” Aguelo said.
DAR Western Visayas Regional Director Sheila Enciso said the FMRs would help the farmers reduce the transportation costs and travel time for their products to reach the market, ensuring their freshness. The project will also result to faster delivery of various support services from the government to the farmers.
Enciso said the concreting of five FMRs in the province will have a total cost of PHP50 million. This includes the PHP10-million concreting of Barangay Naile; PHP20-million concreting of Tagaroroc FMR in Barangay Tagaroroc, Nabas; the PHP5-million concreting of Sta. Cruz-Biga-a road in Barangays Sta. Cruz and Biga-a in Lezo town; the PHP10-million concreting of Aliputos road in Numancia town; and the PHP5-million concreting of the FMR in Barangay Dangcalan, Malinao town.
The construction of the FMRs, Estrella said, is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to extend the necessary support services to farmers to revitalize the country’s agriculture sector by improving the flow of food supply.
“This project will change the lives of the ARBs, it will help them gain better prices for their products to improve their income and livelihood,” Estrella said. (PNA)
