Tire path in Lanao connects barrios to trading centers

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines - There is a unique “tire path” made of separate parallel stretches of concrete pavements on a barrio road straddling through farms in Pualas town that now connects villagers to the trading center of the municipality.

The tire path, which cuts through farmlands in Barangay Linuk in Pualas, Lanao del Sur, is one of dozens of community-driven projects of World Bank, implemented via the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Social Fund Project (ASFP).

Members of the government-accredited People’s Organization (PO) in Barangay Linuk had direct involvement in the implementation of the project, which they also designed, through a series of dialogues and consensus-building with representatives of ASFP and the Pualas local government unit.

Sarimah Ampaso, ASFP’s municipal facilitator for Pualas, said the construction of the tire path, completed just recently, was slowed down by frequent heavy rains.

Inclement weather, however, did not stop barrio folks from forging ahead, working even at night time to complete the project.

“They hauled construction aggregates such as gravel and sand and bags of cement like ants, Muslim women and men alike,” Ampaso said.

The ASFP operates under the ministerial supervision of the office of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman.

Ampaso said children can now attend classes in schools along the tire path even during the rainy days.

“The farm-to-market road before the tire path was built was impassable during the rainy days because it becomes so muddy,” Ampaso said.

There are planners from other local government units in Lanao del Sur that recently visited Barangay Linuk and took photos of stretches of the tire path, apparently to replicate the project using local funds.

“We are luckier because this was constructed by us with help from World Bank through the ASFP,” said 36-year-old Maranaw farmer named Aminullah.

Local folks are grateful to the Pualas local government unit for supporting the construction of the tire path.