Wednesday, October 11, 2006 Sarangani secures P110-M loan for heavy equipment By Bong S. Sarmiento
THE Land Bank of the Philippines has extended a P110 million loan to Sarangani province for the purchase of heavy equipment.
Gilda Pico, Land Bank acting president and chief executive officer said it is their thrust to help countryside development initiatives in line with the pump-priming program of the national government.
"We always look at the local government units as our strongest partner in countryside development," she said.
Sarangani Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez said they used the money to buy a fleet of brand new heavy equipment, which was delivered early this month.
He lauded for extending the loan, saying the philosophy of Land Bank in bringing development in the countryside has been strengthened further by the "partnership that we have been creating and will create for our people."
"In the past many people look at the country's performance usually by looking at urban cities such as Manila, Davao, Cebu and General Santos," Dominguez said.
"But many people fail to realize that majority of our area and our resources have been left untapped. In Sarangani, we only utilized about 30 per cent of our land area for productive means," the governor said.
He added that the new equipment would be used to open up the countryside to investments, additional development and job generation.
It was the first time since it's the inception of the province that the Provincial Government acquired brand new heavy equipment.
Sarangani, which has six coastal and one inland towns, was carved out of South Cotabato and has been banking on the aquaculture and agriculture sectors to boost its revenues.
Dole Philippines Inc. has started expanding in Sarangani through the municipality of Maitum, targeting to develop a pineapple plantation in 3,500 hectares there by 2008.
The provincial engineering office's new units are six 6-wheeler dump trucks, five 10-wheeler dump trucks, two motor graders, two wheel loaders, two backhoes, two road rollers and a reconditioned low-bed trailer.
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