By Sarwell Meniano/PNA
TACLOBAN CITY — At least 84 major government projects have been listed by the Regional Development Council (RDC) as priority for quarterly monitoring this year in Eastern Visayas, citing their importance to the attainment of regional development goals and targets.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Director Meylene Rosales, chair of the RDC’s Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC), said there are only 84 projects picked by the body for monitoring given the “limited technical and logistical resources.”
These projects include post-“Yolanda” reconstruction activities; resettlement sites in Tacloban City, Eastern Samar, Leyte, and Biliran; social services; livelihood projects; irrigations; flood control structures; social infrastructure; agriculture and fishery; roads and bridges; roads leading to conflict-stricken areas; reforestation projects; seaports; airports; and Official Development Assistance projects.
Major projects under the post-disaster rehabilitation are the PHP15.51 billion permanent housing projects by the National Housing Authority, the PHP9.62-billion road heightening and tide embankment project for communities badly hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, and PHP2.39 billion construction of the new Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center.
Rosales said on Wednesday the project monitoring initiative by RDC members both from government and private sector will help ensure the timely implementation of programs and projects critical to the attainment of goals in the 2017-2022 Regional Development Plan.
“Programs and projects with substantial negative slippage and problems in implementation have been the priority for field monitoring visit and problem-solving sessions to resolve issues,” Rosales added.
The RPMC monitoring team composed of officials from the government and private sector is tasked to prepare reports on the field monitoring and provide feedback to implementing agencies and stakeholders for their information and appropriate action.
The RPMC is the RDC’s project monitoring arm responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of priority programs and projects implemented in the region, particularly those that are encountering implementation bottlenecks and projects that are worthy for replication.