Rama wants DA to fund farm-to-market roads

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has asked the Department of Agriculture to fund the farm-to-market roads in two mountain barangays of Cebu City estimated to cost P20 million.

Rama, in his letter to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, asked for P10 million worth of road concreting projects each for barangays Babag and Agsungot.

“This is very essential to the community in as much as most of the residents thereat are engaged in farming, and that they will be traveling to the city proper more often in order to transport their products for trade,” Rama said in his letter.

The city agriculture department recorded that farmers in Cebu City earn about P70 million a year from vegetables and other crops including cutflowers.

The city government believes that the establishment of more farm-to-market roads will increase the income of farmers since it would be easy for them to transport their products from their farm to the markets in the city proper.

The city government has also allocated millions of pesos for road concreting projects in the mountain barangays to give more access to the residents there to the facilities in the urban areas and vice-versa.

Last year, the city also received assistance from the Bureau of Post-harvest Research and Extension for the purchase of two agricultural tramlines.

The tramlines were installed in barangays Tabunan and Sudlon 2. The transportation of goods to the nearest farm-to-market road has now become easier and faster. The project cost P3.7 million. (FREEMAN)