Antique coop implements P3M energization project
San Jose, Antique -- Antique Electric Cooperative (ANTECO) Inc. has implemented the Barangay Electrification Project with dispatch the recent of which is the ongoing P3 million project covering the barangays Villaflores, Villa Laua-an and Villasal Patnongon.
Eng'r Gregorio Rufino, Institutional Services Department Manager of Antique Electric Corporation (ANTECO) Inc. revealed the work started December last year and completion is on February 15, 2008 or earlier.
This national funded project subsidized by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) would initially benefit around 100 households,. When the project is in operation, more requests for wiring connections are expected as this has been the trend following completion of the project as greater number of households would want to enjoy the amenities of life and engage in more productive endeavors or income generating projects, Rufino said.
As of date, ANTECO has so far energized 522 barangays out of 537, or a completion rate of 97 percent, covering 16 municipalities including the island town of Caluya, as the two other towns of Pandan and Libertad are being served by Aklan Electric Cooperative. Only 15 barangays await to be energized in order to complete the 100 percent coverage, the source said.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo instructed on Tuesday, the Department of Energy to complete the government's Expanded Rural Electrification Program before 2010, PIA dispatch reported.
In her speech at the culmination of the four-day First Energy Summit in Pasay City, the President gave out the order as she stressed that the government would increase its infrastructure spending to shield the country from the slow down of US economy and serve as springboard for further economic growth.
As of last month, there are now lights in all but three percent of the country's 42,000 barangays. We will wire up the remaining 1,400 villages before 2010, the President said.
The President, determined to uplift the lives of the poor, is aware that lack of access to electricity in the country's poorest rural communities leads to limited job opportunities and low productivity among residents which in turn serve to perpetuate poverty. (PIA)