THE provinces of Misamis Oriental and Occidental are among the beneficiaries of a five-year program of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid) worth P100 million aimed at accelerating systematically the capacity of provincial governments in giving services to the people.

The program, which covers Mindanao and Visayas, is nearing completion this year.

In Misamis Oriental, Mariska Naybe, chief of project development and management unit of Department of Interior and Local Government-10 (DILG-10), said the rehabilitation of roads in Misamis Oriental has already started.

She said the Awang-Tingalan road and the rectification work for Opol-Basak road slip are ongoing.

Naybe said the project is worth P68.7 million that covers the 13.28-kilometers road project.

Also, the repair of Opol-Basak-Tingalan road was already completed last May 2010.

She said the project is worth P58.04 million that covers 9.01 kilometers of gravel road.

Lawyer Rene Burdeos, DILG-10 regional director, said the five-year program is called the Provincial Roads Management Facility (PRMF).

The project was a program initiative of AusAID for the Philippines.

The project is aimed at improving government services in key areas such as: “Sustainable road network management, transparent and accountable budget and expenditure system, functioning internal control system and independent control system.”

Aside from that, the project is also aimed to improve the comprehensive human resource development plan of provincial governments.

In a document given to this paper by DILG-10, Misamis Occidental was granted a P31.3 million for a 6.26-kilometer road project.

“The road provides an improved corridor for the communities of Barangay Maular, Caputol and Monterico, in the Municipality of Aloran,” the document stated.