Skip to main content

P170-M farm to market road for Ilocos Norte benefits Batac residents

By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter

Batac CITY—At least eight barangays here composed of more than 5,000 households will benefit from the on-going rehabilitation of a farm to market road at Brgy. Rayuray village, this city.

Worth PHP170.3 million funded by World Bank in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and Ilocos Norte government under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), the Billoca-San Juan farm to market road is the second largest infrastructure project here in Region 1.

Also included in the package are eight bridges. These are the entry and exit points of commuters from the interior Barangays of Nagbacalan, Baoa West and Camandingan in Batac City. Farmers and traders also pass this route particularly in Barangay San Juan that connects Batac to Sarrat town.

Residents like Noli Lacambra of Camandingan said he is grateful for the project as the project composed of five packages would certainly improve their way of life.

“We harvest mangoes and vegetables in our farms. But due to the poor road condition which decreases the quality of our harvest during transport, we only get low market price for our products,” Mr. Lacambra said citing even their school children have trouble in going to school during rainy season because of the sad state of their bridges submerged in water during heavy rains.

On September 8, 2017, the project finally break ground.

The project includes a 12.24-kilometer farm to market road and the upgrading and expansion for Sta. Cruz de Noto bridge, Bulilising, Caoayan, Rayuray, Camandingan, San Pedro and Pandan.

Its winning bidder, the Taylan Construction and Development will complete the project next year.


Once completed, they expect the transportation cost reduction by 20%, travel time by 60%, increase traffic by 60% and reduce transport losses of fresh products by at least 10%.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become...

Free dormitories eyed for Nueva Era students in LC, Batac

 Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Nueva Era , Ilocos Norte—The municipal government here, headed by Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida is planning to establish dormitories in the cities of Laoag and Batac that will exclusively cater to college students from the said cities. “Sapay la kuma ta maituloyen iti mabiit tay ar-arapaapen tayo ken iti munisipyo a maipatakderan kuma dagiti annak tayo a college students nga agbasbasa idiay siyudad iti Batac ken Laoag iti libre a dormitoryo a bukod da ngem inggana nga awan pay ket an-anusan mi paylaeng nga ibaklay kenni apo bise mayor iti pagbayad da iti kasera aggapu iti bukod mi a suweldo malaksid dagitay it-ited iti munisipyo ken iti barangay nga stipend da kada semester, ” Garvida said.    Garvida added that the proposed establishment of dormitories would be a big help to the students’ parents as this would shoulder the expenses of their children for rent and likewise they would feel...

P29 per kilo rice sold to vulnerable groups in Ilocos region

BBM RICE. Residents buy rice for only PHP29 per kilo at the NIA compound in San Nicolas town, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. The activity was under a nationwide pilot program of the government to sell quality and affordable rice initially to the vulnerable sectors. (Lei Adriano) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte —Senior citizens, persons with disability, and solo parents availed of cheap rice sold at PHP29 per kilogram during the grand launching of the Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) Rice held at the National Irrigation Administration compound in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. “ Maraming salamat Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa inyong pagmamahal sa Region 1 lalong-lalo na sa bayan namin sa San Nicolas,” said Violeta Pasion, a resident Brgy.   18 Bingao in this town. The low-priced grains were sourced from the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) contract farming with irrigators' association members in the province. Along with Pasion, Epi...