BARMM to go on construction binge in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur this year
MARAWI CITY — Eight municipal halls in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, as well as public markets and legislative buildings, will be constructed within the year as the
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) launched a construction campaign in the region last Monday, January 18.
BARMM Minister of Interior and Local Government Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo, together with Chief Minister
Ahod Balawag Ebrahim and Executive Secretary Abdulraof Macacua, led the signing of memoranda of agreement (MOAs) with the mayors of Talayan, Kabuntalan, South Upi, Datu Blah Sinsuat, and Sultan Kudarat in Cotabato City for the construction of governance facilities in their respective towns.
The structures, Sinarimbo noted, will build the foundation of cooperation of the regional government and towns in Maguindanao.
“That hope is founded on our unshaken belief that the cooperation between the LGUs [local government units] and the Bangsamoro government would result in better services for our people,” Sinsarimbo stressed.
He also said there were eight towns in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which still do not have municipal halls.
In line with the Second Bangsamoro Foundation Day celebration in Lanao del Sur, a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of two-storey municipal halls in Poona Bayabao, Butig,
Sultan Dumalondong, and Lumbaca Unayan was held with Sinarimbo and Provincial Governor Mamintal Adiong, Jr. in attendance at the provincial capitol.
The construction will be part of the comprehensive interventions for the LGUs, which have no permanent and conclusive government centers.
“Wala hong pang gastos sa pagpapatayo ng mga munisipyo. May mga munisipyo na nasunog like Butig, nasunog nung time na nag-offensive ang Maute (There are no funds to put up the municipal halls. There are municipal halls, like the one in Butig, which were burned down in a Maute offensive),” said Sinarimbo.
Poona Bayabao Mayor Dr. Lampa Pandi ssaid that, when he assumed office in 2007, there was no town center so that he had to put up a temporary municipal hall instead.
“Nag put-up ako ng government center nandoon lahat ng offices, pero ang kulang lang is a municipal hall na iyong desente at presentable one (I put up a government center. But what was lacking was a municipal hall that was decent and presentable),” Pandi said.
The ceremony was also graced by BARMM’s Deputy Chief Minister Ali Solaiman and Public Works Minister Architect Eduard Guerra.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG) and the Office of the Chief Minister (OCM) also signed an executive order, formally creating the project management office of SALAM Bangsamoro — an office that will provide assistance to combatants of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in their transition to civilian life.
“The project will initially cover 10,000 combatants who will be provided with cash assistance,” Sinarimbo said. He further added the assistance will be based on the basis of their compliance with at least three mandatory requirements — enrollment into peace education, community services rendering, and skills development training.