Mini-Marshall plan for Mindanao up

Davao City — The Arroyo administration is set on implementing a four-year mini-Marshall plan for the transition from war to peace and development of Mindanao.

Called the Peace and Reconstruction Imperatives for Mindanao’s Enhanced Development (Primed), the plan involves cohesive action among the island’s different ethnic and religious groups in achieving economic progress.

Presidential Assistant for Regional Development Paul Dominguez said the action entails strategic interventions from different sectors aside from government, which include civil society, various ethnic groups and the donor community.

Dominguez stressed government shall likewise address the needed policy initiatives to pave the way for the various sectors work on the strategic interventions as provided in the mini-Marshall plan.

This developed as government is set to create within the next six months a peace and development fund for Mindanao for poverty reduction, and for the small and medium scale enterprises in the island.

Dominguez said government shall also accelerate ongoing foreign-assisted projects wherein at least $2 billion worth of funds remained undisbursed. A special team shall be created to unclog project implementation and other bottlenecks that caused the non-disbursement of the said funds.

The action agenda also includes the resumption of the peace process that was stalled last year because of the all-out war stance the Estrada administration took against the Moro separatist rebels. — Edith Regalado