The Department of Agriculture (DA) is seeking another P450-million loan from the World Bank after it reported finishing in two years all agriculture infrastructure projects initially programmed for completion in six years from a $500-million loan from the bank.
“We have already spent $87 million of the $500 million from World Bank loan under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) which is a six-year development project,” said Arnel de Mesa, PRDP project director in a press conference here Thursday.
The PRDP is a six year national project under the DA that aims “to establish a modern, value- oriented, and climate resilient agriculture and fisheries sector.” It was launched three years ago.
The DA said the total project cost is P27.48 billion, composed of financing from a World Bank loan of about $500 million, a Global Environment Facility grant of P287 million, national government counterpart of P3.5 billion and local governments equity of P3.1 billion.
De Mesa said, however, that most of the infrastructure component of the PRDP, mostly farm-to-market roads which were programmed for completion in six years, have been finished within two years.
Because of the need for more infrastructure projects in the provinces, the DA has proposed another P450-million loan from the World Bank also for PRDP projects.
De Mesa said the proposal is now being studied by the National Economic Development Authority.
At the press conference, Frauke Jungbluth, World Bank’s lead agricultural economist and task force team leader, said she and other members of her team are now in the country to monitor the projects funded from the World Bank loan.
While her team has yet to wind up inspections, Jungbluth said she was satisfied with what she had seen so far in the projects implemented or still being done in the rural areas.
In a report, the DA said that PRDP farm to- market road projects were meant to reduce by 30 percent the average travel time from market to markets, noting that the project has covered 1,265 kilometers of new roads, 1,080 kilometers of rehabilitated roads, and 775 linear meters of single and double-lane roads.
The report said the PRDP infrastructure component also included additional irrigation service areas of 8,014 hectares and 22,192 hectares of service areas rehabilitated and drainage services.
It also cited “improved post-harvest facilities and other rural infrastructure such as potable water supply and value-adding facilities.”
De Mesa said the PRDP projects were meant to directly benefit as many as 300,000 farming and fishing folk, and indirectly benefit as many as 10 million people.
Some employees of the DA who were present at the press conference seemed skeptical and whispered to media to ask the officials to identify alleged project beneficiaries.
