GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The national government has approved a PHP93.6 million grant for the rehabilitation and management of a major river and watershed area in Sarangani Province.
Rolando Tuballes, chief of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), said Thursday the funding was endorsed by the inter-agency People’s Survival Fund Board to facilitate the management of the critical Saub River and watershed area in Maitum town.
He said they are targeting to start before yearend the full implementation of the project, which is dubbed “Saub Watershed Ecosystem Rehabilitation and Flood Risk Reduction for Increased Resilience to Climate Change and Natural Hazards.”
It has an approved budget of PHP102.9 million, with the provincial government contributing PHP9.3 million.
Tuballes said the project will cover nine barangays in Maitum that are traversed by Saub River and its tributaries. These are Batian, Kalaneg, Kiayap, Mabay, Malalag, New La Union, Old Poblacion, Sison and Zion.
Under the project, a spillway and other flood control structures will be built along the Saub River to address its perennial swelling and flooding nearby communities during heavy rains, according to Tuballes.
He said the riverbanks and watershed area will be planted with various fruit trees and high-value crops as part of the agroforestry and rehabilitation components.
Tuballes said the seedlings will be distributed for free to residents, who would be tapped as co-implementers in the development of the agroforestry area.
“Once developed, it could serve as alternative source of livelihood for the tribal residents there,” he said.
The Saub River project was among the six proposals earlier submitted by the provincial government to the People’s Survival Fund Board, which was created through Climate Change Act.
The proposals were based on studies conducted by PENRO and the Provincial Planning and Development Office.
The board is composed of the Department of Finance, Bureau of the Treasury, Department of Budget and Management, Climate Change Commission, National Economic and Development Authority and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. (PNA)
