World Bank rural dev't projects may start this month

Negros Occ. is pilot area

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Various development projects in Negros Occidental that will be funded from the $500-million grant of the World Bank to the Philippines, may start this January.

Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. said, "I think this month it will be approved and we can already implement it."  Marañon said.

Negros Occidental province was chosen as a pilot area in the country for the World Bank's Philippine Rural Development Program that is funding projects to spur development in the countryside, the governor said, adding, "We are the first because we're the first (LGU) to submit the project proposals."

The WB is allocating a $500-million grant for the entire country, with Negros Occidental as the first recipient of a portion of it, he said.

The grant will include farm-to-market roads, water projects, ports, irrigation systems and income generating projects, Marañon told The Freeman, explaining that WB's program is a poverty alleviation measure aimed at improving the Philippine economy.

Marañon quoted Department of Agriculture-Western Visayas Regional Director Larry Nacionales as saying that the proposal of Negros Occidental is "one that is almost approved."

The DA and the local government units will have a counterpart in any of the WB-funded projects and, in the case of Negros Occidental LGU, it is tasked with identifying the projects it wants to be covered by the program.

Under the counterpart agreement, for every project, 80 percent will come from the WB, 10 percent from the DA, and 10 percent from the recipient LGU, said the governor.

Training of personnel for the program implementation has been ongoing since August last year, Marañon added. (FREEMAN)