The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said Saturday that it will closely monitor the construction of a steel bridge in Villaverde, Nueva Vizcaya that will enable residents to bypass the the Ibung-Caldaan River to reach their destinations.
DAR-Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer Dindi Tan noted the daily ordeal local residents have to endure.
“Construction of the steel bridge project will start anytime this month of January and is expected to be completed in June this year, just in time for the rainy season,’’ DAR said in a statement.
She noted that the P8-million project is being implemented under the Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Kaunlarang Pang-Agraryo (TPKP) in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Nueva Vizcaya provincial government.
The structure is a two-way bridge, measuring 40.2 linear meters and seven meters wide.
Tan added that it is “intended to ease the transportation of the farmers’ produce from their farms to the market so that they would be able to sell them at fair price and increase their income.’’
“More significantly, there is the need to rush the construction of the bridge, at least, before the rainy season comes, as she saw some children, as young as four-year-old, tugged along by their elders as they were crossing the river,” Tan said.
“This should serve as a constant reminder to do our best in making sure that there is a better tomorrow for them. That the hardship they have been experiencing at such a very young age won’t be passed on to their children and the children of their children,” she added.
Once the Tulay ng Pangulo is completed, Tan said the public, specifically children, “won’t have to unnecessarily expose themselves to dangers of crossing this river ever again, especially during the rainy season when water goes up to its highest level.”