INCOMPLETE. Department of the Interior and Local Government Northern Samar provincial office personnel checks an ongoing health station project in Nagoocan, Catubig town in this Dec. 8, 2022 photo. Frequent rainfall and poor access to some remote communities in Northern Samar are the primary reasons why several projects under the Support to Barangay Development Program have been delayed this year. (Photo courtesy of DILG Northern Samar)
TACLOBAN CITY – Frequent rainfall and poor access to some remote communities in Northern Samar are the primary reasons why several projects under the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) have been delayed this year.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional office here reported on Thursday that of the 35 projects funded in the 2021 allotment in six villages in Northern Samar province, 13 are still ongoing as of end of November.
Aiza Torrecampo, DILG regional focal person for SBDP, said all ongoing projects are all located in Catubig.
These are the farm-to-market road in Hitapian village, school building and health station in Osang village, and water supply system in Nagoocan village.
Incomplete non-infrastructure projects are assistance to indigent families in the three villages of Catubig town and livelihood support to six group also in Catubig.
“The main challenge is the hauling of materials since due to poor access. Airlifting the construction materials was not feasible due to very high cost. These communities are far from the national road,” Torrecampo said.
The target completion date, she said, is within the year and the provincial government is exerting all efforts to get it done.
In a document shared by the Northern Samar provincial government to the Philippine News Agency, several factors have been identified that caused the delay of livelihood projects.
One of this is the lack of cost and return analysis that should have been prepared by the municipal local government or at the village level, or by those who have identified the programs and projects to be implemented under the SBDP 2021.
The document also points to lack of training for beneficiaries of animal dispersal program and recipients of hand tractors.
John Allen Berbon, Northern Samar provincial information officer, said the provincial government was not involved in the initial planning phase.
“The provincial government was not consulted because originally the fund was to be downloaded to the municipal government. However, Congress opted to entrust it to the provincial government,” Berbon said.
Completed and delayed projects form part of the PHP120 million SBDP projects in Northern Samar under the 2021 budget.
The SBDP seeks to implement 35 projects in six communities in Northern Samar. Civil works some of these projects have started late last year and early this year.
The projects included PHP31.93 million farm-to-market roads, PHP17.49 million water and sanitation system, PHP18.5 million health stations, PHP24.8 million for school buildings, PHP11 million electrification, PHP10.05 million assistance to poor families and PHP6.22 million agricultural and livelihood training assistance.
Recipient villages are Quezon in Catarman; Calantiao in Bobon; Hitopian, Nagoocan, and Osang villages in Catubig; and San Miguel village in Las Navas town.
The SBDP is a flagship program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which was conceptualized to address insurgency by bringing sustainable solutions and basic services to communities in need. (PNA)
