THE Ministry of Interior and Local Government in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MILG-Barmm) launched Tuesday, January 18, the livelihood component of the Bangsamoro Integrated Rehabilitation and Development (Bird) program phase 1 in the 12-village Pigcawayan Cluster, under the Special Geographic Area (SGA) of Barmm.

Lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, MILG minister, said Wednesday, January 19, that financed under the region's Special Development Fund (SDF), the Bird program aims to transform the 63 villages in SGA into productive and peaceful communities.

Sinarimbo said the livelihood component included the upgrading of the Pigcawayan cluster's electric supply -- from its current single-phase to three phase, and the handing over of farm equipment, implements, motorboats, and fishing gear to the alliance of villages, which they assisted in its formation.

"The alliance will cooperate, coordinate, and pool its resources to provide common services to the constituents of the 12 barangays," Sinarimbo said.

Also included in the component were MILG's singing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (Mafar) and Trade, Investments, and Tourism (MTIT), wherein the former will provide agricultural and fisheries inputs and technical assistance for the farmers and fisherfolk, while the latter will provide assistance in business registration, management, and marketing.

"The (Bird) program intends to improve governance through the exercise of its corporate powers that will sustain economic and livelihood projects in the 63 barangays," Sinarimbo said. (SunStar Zamboanga)