PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) signed an agreement here Tuesday with local government officials, seeking their help to fast-track the implementation of irrigation projects.
NIA administrator Ricardo Visaya signed the covenant with Palawan 3rd District Rep. Gil Acosta, Palawan Police Provincial Office (PPO) Senior Superintendent Gabriel Lopez, representatives from the city and provincial governments, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and municipal mayors at a hotel in this city.
Prior to the signing, he said the covenant means NIA and the local government officials agree to work together to speed up the implementation of government irrigation projects in the province for small farmers.
“Implementation of all government projects in the provinces should not be delayed. It is a marching order from President Rodrigo Duterte that all be completed on time for the benefit of our farmers,” said Visaya.
He added that it was also to help resolve common problems being faced by government projects, like issues in rights of way, peace and order situation, indigenous peoples (IP) in ancestral domains, and conflicts of water users, among others.
Visaya also acknowledged that when he took over as NIA administrator last year, he was surprised to learn that numerous irrigation projects across the country were not completed on time, making small farmers suffer.
“When I took over, I learned there were so many projects whose implementations were delayed. They should have been completed on time with expected quality. If they’re delayed, they will be costly on the part of the government, and services that were supposed to be received on time becomes a problem,” added Visaya.
He warned that local executives who will cause delays or even block projects can face sanctions like what happened in Mindanao when one tried to stop an irrigation project.
Farmers, he stated, who are tilling below eight hectares of land have nothing to pay.
“If you’re a farmer who is tilling less than eight hectares, you can benefit from the irrigation project without paying anything. If you’re farming more than the size of land, that means you can afford to pay,” he said.
Small farmers can save PHP4,000 to PHP5,000 per hectare per cropping, according to him. (Gerardo Reyes, Jr./PNA)
