BAGUIO CITY, August 10 – The Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) here disclosed that the poor condition of major road networks linking the different parts of the region is one of the major obstacles for development, especially in perking up economic activities in the rural areas that are geared towards uplifting the living condition of the people.

Based on the data obtained from the RDC-CAR, only five of 31 Cordillera Road Improvement Projects (CRIP), which were identified by the region’s policy-making body as a priority development thrust, have been completed over the past two decades.

Juan Ngalob, regional director of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in the Cordillera and acting RDC-CAR chairman, said CRIP became the region’s flagship infrastructure project that was passed on from various administrations, but only few road projects were prioritized for development.

The CRIP aims to establish a south and north regional trunkline and major road laterals that will inter-connect the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province as well as Baguio City and its neighboring provinces in the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions.

However, despite the tremendous effort of local politicians to lobby for funding support to realize the implementation of the projects over the past two decades, only five out of the 31 road networks were given immediate attention.

The RDC-CAR revealed that the regional rating of the Cordillera in terms of paved roads is a very poor 47 percent, which is way below the national average of 72 percent.

Ngalob claimed the immediate rehabilitation of major roads in the region is a must because of the topography of the region, which is mostly mountainous.

The NEDA-CAR chief admitted the peculiar topography of the region limits the development area of the provinces, which contributes to the continuous existence of undeveloped places especially in remote communities.

With 71 percent of the region’s land area classified as steep to very steep, he claimed economic activities become difficult and too expensive, thus the need to significantly improve the road networks to allow better economic development in rural areas.

Ngalob emphasized the region is challenged by a transportation system that limits the mobility of people considering that many roads are unpaved and impassable during the rainy season where landslides become a common occurrence and usually impede the smooth flow of traffic along major roadlines in the different parts of the region.

The RDC-CAR has encouraged the Aquino administration to make CRIP as part of the country’s economic resiliency plan in spurring economic development, especially in far flung communities so that people will not be forced to migrate to urban centers and contribute to the worsening problems caused by rapid urbanization.

Ngalob added another problem that continues to slow down the implementation of the CRIP is the frequent occurrences of natural calamities that greatly affect the improvements in the various roadlines, rendering government expenditures useless.