Dumaraonons say ‘Thank You’ for RO-RO highway
ROXAS CITY – People in Dumarao, Capiz expressed gratitude for the rehabilitation of their national highway that ease their travel.
Barangay Captain Johnny Cabe of Aglalana, Dumarao town, the boundary barangay with Passi City, Iloilo, said that they are now happy with the almost nearly completed national roads.
Cabe said that with the rehabilitation of the national highway their travel time to Iloilo, Roxas City and other destinations like Manila using the roll-on roll-off buses is becoming easy.
Transportation costs for them have also been reduced, he said, adding that through the RORO, it is easy for them to transport their farm products to the market.
He said that among these products are farm animals, vegetables and charcoal, among others.
The rehabilitation of the national highway is part of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Strong Arroyo’s Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) major legacy project that she spelled out in her State of the nation Address (SONA) in 2006.
Engineer Nilo Gavia, head of Capiz Second Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), said the SRNH was conceived to support tourism development and promotion in the Central Philippines Super Region that has been designated by President Arroyo as the country’s tourism belt.
The Capiz section of SRNH runs for 50 kilometers from Sapian to Dumarao and links the province with Aklan and Iloilo.
Earlier, Transportation Undersecretary Maria Elena Bautista pointed out that the expansion of the SRNH would focus on the east-west lateral connections so as to realize the President’s vision of a seamless transport system.
She said that the project would entail networks of roads, bridges and ports that would link the Eastern Nautical Highway to the Western Nautical Highway.
The RO-RO system would not only reduce the cost of moving goods but also increase regional trade, enhance tourism and agricultural productivity, growth in investments and development of the countryside as well as poverty reduction. (PIA/Jemin B. Guillermo)