Hanging bridge helps farmers deliver goods to market in Kidapawan

NORTH COTABATO - Farmers in Barangay Indangan in Kidapawan City can now cross over a river so wide that for generations made the delivery of farm products from interior agricultural settlements to the Kidapawan City market very burdensome.

"Now we have a hanging bridge connecting both banks of the river. This is a very nice 'Easter gift' from the provincial government," a 36-year-old farmer named Medardo, a father of three, told reporters in the Cebuano dialect.

Medardo said traversing the river on foot during the rainy days is very dangerous.

Barangay officials have noticed in the past five days an increase in the volume of farm products brought out, via the hanging steel bridge, by Indangan farmers from their enclaves and promptly delivered to the market, which is about seven kilometers away.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño Mendoza and local officials in Kidapawan City inaugurated early this week the 60-meter steel hanging bridge connecting both banks of the Indangan River.

The provincial government spent P3.5 million for the hanging steel bridge, now benefiting hundreds of villagers.

The inaugural rite was witnessed by hundreds of peasant folks led by  Eddie Egay, chairman of Barangay Indangan.

“Crossing the river to transport farm products whenever the water level in the river is high was so difficult, and even impossible when its downstream flow is so strong during the rainy days. Now our people can deliver their harvests to the markets anytime of the day, even during the rainy days,” Egay said in Cebuano.

He said students that use to cross the river on their way to schools in the low lands in Barangay Indangan everyday now arrives at their campuses early to join in flag-raising ceremonies.

"They can even participate now in nighttime school activities because they can safely return home at nighttime without fear of meeting an accident," Egay said.

Mendoza assured of her continuing interventions to improve the productivity of local peasants.

Mendoza urged residents of Indangan to help maintain the hanging bridge.