FARMERS and residents in San Remigio town are now reaping the benefits of the rehabilitation of the 2.7-kilometer Kinawahan to Canagahan Farm-to-Market Road (FMR).
In a statement, the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP)-Department of Agriculture’s Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) 7 said the transformation of the road network provided comfort and ease for the locals doing transactions, especially the farmers and fishers of San Remigio, Cebu with its newly concreted FMR.
“What used to be an inconvenience is now an opposite, enabling the smooth and swift movement of farm goods to the town’s taboan (farmer’s market) because of the rehabilitation of the 2.7-kilometer Kinawahan to Canagahan FMR in the said municipality,” it said.
The more than P27 million FMR now records a substantially completed progress and is expected to be turned over soon. It directly benefits some 2,845 individuals, covering 750 households.
This FMR is one of the sub-projects implemented by the DA 7’s PRDP-RPCO.
Teofilo Pelicano, 79, a banana farmer from Barangay Canagahan, expressed “no regrets” when he agreed for a portion of his land to be used for the road improvement.
He described his trips passing through the FMR as refreshing and comfortable now that vehicles are regularly plying the route regardless of whether it’s a market day or not, due to the good road condition.
“I’m old now and my movement is already very slow, and having this type of road makes me very happy. It is a lot easier now to go to the market in Tambongon,” Pelicano said in a statement.
For the 64-year-old Poncing Mollir, who buys and sells banana cardava, the concrete FMR made his activities like scouting for banana fruits from the farmers easy.
A person with disability, Napoleon Sibay, 53, experienced ease in doing transactions because of the FMR.
Through the FMR, Sibay now conducts house-to-house visits to breeders to fetch, transact and even assess livestock quality. He purchases cows, goats and chickens directly from the breeders which he supplies to Cebu City, Manila and in various native chicken restaurants in the province.
“The road is now wider, which made me save on transportation expenses. Hiring a habal-habal (motorcycle taxi) before would cost me P50. Now the fare is as low as P20,” he said.
Officials from Barangay Kinawahan said some residents have now acquired four-wheeled vehicles since the establishment of the FMR.
“At present, vehicle maintenance is no longer costly compared to the old FMR wherein the road was full of potholes from Canagahan up to Kinawahan,” Barangay Kagawad Danilo Bandolon said.
To keep the FMR in good condition, Barangay Kinawahan already prohibits the entry of trucks as measures for road sustainability even if they have yet to undergo operations and maintenance training. (JOB)