Zamboanga City – Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, chair of the Presidential Task Force for Mindanao River Basin, said President Arroyo has approved an additional amount of P190 million to finance the construction of a new bridge and at least two priority infrastructure projects in flood-hit areas of Region 12 and in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The President approved the additional P190 million in response to a set of recommendations presented by the task force in a joint meeting with her Cabinet at the Isla Parilla Resort in Alabel,
Sarangani on Tuesday morning.

The additional funds will be used for the construction of the Sadsalan Bridge II in Lambayong town in Sultan Kudarat which is worth P80 million; repair and rehabilitation of Allah River flood control, channelization and bank protection in Sultan sa Barongis town in Maguindanao that is worth P50 million; and, the channelization, closure of a breach and construction of bank protection with sluice gate for emergency project at Simuay River in Cotabato City worth P60 million, Archbishop Quevedo said.

He said the appropriations were on top of the P50 million turned over by the President to the task force to begin a study and for the preparation of a “comprehensive rehabilitation and development master plan” for the critical Mindanao River Basin.

“There were some discussions and it was agreed that these are the priority projects that need immediate funding and implementation,” Quevedo confided.

President Arroyo has directed the departments of Finance and the Budget and Management to expedite the release of the funds to allow the Department of Public Works and Highways to immediately begin the construction of the said projects.

The recent floods in Region 12 and the ARMM has damaged at least P1.2 million worth of infrastructures, crops and livestock and had caused the evacuation of some 454,492 residents in the provinces of Sarangani, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao and South Cotabato and the cities of Cotabato and General Santos.