AROUND 300 employees from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will be displaced with the Southern Philippines Development Authority’s (SPDA) future medical city project, a DAR official said.
Davao regional director Joseph Orilla told SunStar through a phone interview that it would be a huge logistical problem to transfer around 300 employees.
Orilla added the 4.3-hectare DAR site in Catalunan Pequeño also houses Mindanao Sustainable Agrarian and Agriculture Development (Minsaad), a DAR project which employs around 100 workers.
Orilla said until an executive order will be released which states the transfer of DAR from their current site, the department will continue to operate.
SPDA operations manager Cristy Dagala said in an interview that they will continue to negotiate with DAR Central Office in Manila in order to settle the issue.
Dagala added the medical city project will help benefit Dabawenyos in the southern part of Davao to have immediate access to health services.
Meanwhile, Orilla said Minsaad is an important office for DAR’s transactions in monitoring agrarian development projects throughout Mindanao.
Minsaad, a Japanese loan assistance project amounting to 6,063 million yen aims to increase profitability and sustainability through income-generating activities.
It aims to link farmers with latest agricultural development.
The funding of the project is allocated for small-scale agricultural infrastructure, such as construction of irrigation facilities, postharvest facilities, farm-to-market road, and capacity building support.
It seeks to increase competitiveness and ensure viable and sustainable agriculture development in twelve selected settlement areas in three regions in Mindanao covering 205 barangays and 25 municipalities.
Around 69,091 agrarian reform beneficiaries are expected to benefit from this project. Minsaad was launched in 2013.