PNA
GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The provincial government of Sarangani is gearing up for the implementation of the PHP103 million ecosystem rehabilitation and flood control project in a major river in Maitum town.
Sarangani Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon said on Monday that he is set to sign a financing agreement with the national government-led People’s Survival Fund (PSF) for the project’s implementation along the Saub river system and nine barangays in Maitum.
Solon said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez will sign the agreement for the PSF as board chairman.
The provincial board or Sangguniang Panlalawigan issued an authority to the governor earlier this month to sign the financing agreement for the “Saub Watershed Ecosystem Rehabilitation and Flood Risk Reduction for Increased Resilience” project.
“It was lined up as among the priority projects this year,” the governor said in a statement.
Under the financing agreement, Solon said PSF will grant some PHP93.5 million to the local government for the implementation of the project.
He said the provincial government’s counterpart funding is set at PHP9.3 million or 10 percent of the project’s total budget.
The governor said the project involves the construction of a spillway along the Saub River, the area’s biggest river system, to address the perennial flooding in downstream communities.
The area’s irrigation systems will also be developed further to provide stable water supplies to local farms, he said.
To complement the planned structures, Solon said an agro-forestry livelihood project will be implemented in the river’s watershed areas.
Solon said a nursery and demonstration farm will be put up in the area and local residents will be tapped to plant “deep-rooted fruit trees” to prevent the occurrence of landslides.
The fruit farms will serve as an alternative livelihood for local residents, he said.
Solon said these projects will be implemented in collaboration with the municipal government of Maitum, Mindanao State University-General Santos, Conrado and Ladislawa Alcantara Foundation and Mahintana Foundation.
