‘Wall of light’unveiled in Cotabato City

COTABATO CITY – Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Dutch Ambassador Robert Vornis unveiled here yesterday the "wall of light," a symbol of international cooperation in providing solar energy to poor Muslim communities in the south.

The "wall of light" is a vertical marker made of 149 dark gray granite tiles symbolizing the 149 barangays, almost 80 percent of them located in the ARMM, now energized with solar power under the continuing Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) program.

The AMORE program is being assisted by the Dutch government, the United States Agency for International Development, the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), and the office of ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan.

Lawyer Oscar Sampulna, the ARMM’s executive secretary, said the "wall of light," embossed with the logos of agencies and donors helping the AMORE initiative, also signifies the solidarity of the region’s culturally diverse Moro communities in supporting the electrification program, even in supposedly remote, critical areas.

Sampulna said the AMORE project complements the efforts of Ampatuan and President Arroyo in accelerating economic growth in impoverished Moro communities in the autonomous region through socio-economic interventions and capability-building programs for local government units.

Vornis said their government has shelled out 5.6 million euros as subsidy for the renewable solar electrification program, now enjoyed by some 4,000 households in Mindanao, mostly in the ARMM provinces.

Also present in the unveiling of the "wall of light" were representatives of the PNOC and the Department of Energy.