KALAHI community projects to end January 2010
KALAHI community process specialist Leo Quintilla said the government will end the implementation of the KALAHI projects starting January 2010 for lack of funding.
Quintilla said the projects should have already ended in June 2009 but the government extended its implementation until December of this year. The funding for the projects is only pegged for six years. Though, they are hoping to extend the project with the help of foreign funding agencies.
There are some 144,211 individuals all over the region or 24,000 families who benefited from the projects in 16,050 communities, Quintilla said.
He added there are number of international funding agencies which are interested in giving grants to the country before the project wraps up next year. The gains of the projects after several years of its implementation caught the interest of international funding agencies from Spain and the World Bank.
The projects which were implemented in the hinterland barangays particularly in conflict areas were also beset by several problems before they successfully gained their project objective and goals, said Quintilla.
There were KALAHI projects in the municipalities of Carles and Concepcion affected by Typhoon Frank. The pump boats provided to the beneficiaries were damaged by the typhoon, he said.
Quintilla was also grateful of the help given to them by project volunteers. The help of the volunteers has aided in achieving the project goals. They do not receive salaries but were only given transportation and meal allowances.
In Western Visayas alone, they have reached 86 percent of their total target barangays. The projects assisted by KALAHI are road networks, farm implements, water system among others. The first KALAHI project was implemented in the town of Concepcion.
In KALAHI initiated projects, the local government units have their 30 percent counter parts on the total cost of the project. The counterpart could be in the form of labor or money. Billions of pesos were poured in the six-year project implementation.
The road projects will increase the mobility and accessibility of the people from far-flung barangays to the town proper. The transportation cost and travel time is reduced. Road related accidents were also reduced, said Quintilla.
Quintilla added that 97 percent of the total projects are functional. It will benefit the people. They are also given the responsibility to take care of the projects as soon as it turned over to them.
In Iloilo, Quintilla said the presence of armed men in the far-flung barangays did not affect the project unlike in Negros Occidental, said Quintilla.
In Cauayan, Negros Occidental, the project implementation is affected because of the insurgency problem. There are areas where projects have to be pulled out.
