Basilan infra projects to spur island’s growth

LAMITAN CITY, Basilan – There are six ongoing and recently completed major government infrastructure projects in Lamitan City and city officials are confident the projects will weaken the Abu Sayyaf which capitalizes on poverty to stoke public hatred on government.

Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay said foremost among the projects are the R1-billion transcentral road that connects Barangay Sta. Clara to Sumisip town in the southwest of Basilan, and the newly completed R150million expansion of the Lamitan port.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Don Mustapha Loong said the road project, also known as “peace road,” will cut through Ponoh Mahadjeh, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan, and open up hinterlands suitable to orchard and rubber tree propagation.

It will also pass through Basilan’s Sampinit Complex, a forested area with ecotourism potentials, Loong said.

This road project will spur livelihood and gradually marginalize the Abu Sayyaf, Furigay said.

The expansion of the Lamitan wharf will boost the city’s investment climate, where new businesses have sprouted lately.

The peace road and the port improvement projects are part of the flagship infrastructure thrusts in Basilan of the office of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and supervised by Loong and DPWH Basilan District Engineer Soler Undug.