THURSDAY, 06 OCTOBER 2011 18:24 HENRY EMPEÑO / CORRESPONDENT
IBA, Zambales—The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved some
P17.1million worth of livelihood assistance funds to be given to coastal
communities in this province under the bank-funded Integrated Coastal
Resource Management Project (ICRMP).
Dr. Rene Mendoza, provincial agriculturist of Zambales, said several
non-governmental organizations and people's organizations here will be
receiving equipment, facilities and materials for predetermined
livelihood projects that the ADB has approved under the enterprise
development component of the ICRMP.
The projects were approved after the community groups here, with the
assistance of the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO), prepared and
submitted project proposals for cooperative enterprises to the
Department of Agriculture, which assessed the proposals.
The beneficiaries come from the coastal towns of Sta. Cruz, Candelaria,
Masinloc, Palauig, Iba, Cabangan, San Felipe, San Antonio and Subic.
Zambales is said to be the first province in the Central Luzon region
to receive funding under the Enterprise Development and Income
Diversification component of the ICRMP. The other components are Policy
and Institutional Strengthening and Development; ICRM and Biodiversity
Conservation; and Social and Environmental Services and Facilities.
Among the initial projects already approved for funding are rice
retailing and meat and fish processing facility in Subic town, which is
up for funding of P464,467.39; tilapia production in San Felipe,
P204,375.40; iodized salt processing and mud crab fattening projects in
Palauig, P387,074.85; and hog fattening farm in Sta. Cruz, P478,518.20.
Reynaldo Reoligio, Zambales provincial aquaculturist, said the Zambales
PAO will also be responsible for monitoring and providing further
administrative and management assistance to the recipient organizations
to ensure that the projects will prosper.
The assistance program requires that the recipient organization, upon
earning back the full capital invested, can only retain 50 percent of
the amount. The other half would have to be donated to a municipal
federation of farmers or fishers to fund more local entrepreneur
projects, Reoligio said.
Mendoza said these projects "augur well for the program of Gov. Jun
Ebdane to develop the agriculture sector in the province."
He added that under the Ebdane administration, the PAO has become more
active in assisting farmers and fisher folk throughout Zambales on
projects and activities that enhance their livelihood and industry.
"After the governor approved a half-million increase in our department's
budget, we have also improved our mobility and facilities and became
more capable in rendering services under our mandate," Mendoza noted.
Recently, the PAO has also facilitated the distribution of 60 gill nets
to fishers' cooperatives in the towns of Palauig and Masinloc and the
distribution of 432,000 tilapia fingerlings that were dispersed by local
government units in the province's rivers and lakes.
Before this, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources also
distributed 10 motorized patrol boats to local government units here
under the ADB-funded ICRMP to support activities in coastal-resources
management.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said that
forthcoming ICRMP projects in Zambales would include the mapping and
establishment of marine-protected areas to address the problem of
overfishing, the establishment of a research center and monitoring
station at the Ramon Magsaysay Technological University, and the
implementation of infrastructure and social-development projects in
consonance with the DENR's "Ridges to Reefs" resource protection program.
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