PANABO CITY—Panabo now has a new bus and jeepney terminal, an infrastructure that can do well for the city as one of the key trading posts in Mindanao.
A product of a P38-million loan from the Asian Development Bank with counterpart from Land Bank of the Philippines, the Panabo City Integrated Bus and Jeepney Terminal was formally opened this week.
After meeting stringent requirements, the bus and jeepney terminal project took off on March 9, 2006 with JITS Construction Corporation as the contract party of Panabo City Government.
Given only 365 days to finish, the contractor hit the target, enabling the city government to open the facility for a dry run on March 18 this year.
It is since then opened for passenger buses and vans to pick up passengers at the terminal even before its formal inauguration.
The city government counts it as one of its economic enterprises and self-sustaining facility considering that it is a loan payable within 12 years at 11 percent per annum.
A project under the Mindanao Basic Urban Services Sector Project (MBUSSP), the facility is one of the mechanisms to uplift the quality of life of urban dwellers in Mindanao that the project seeks to address.
MBUSSP is a special project under the supervision of the Department of Interior and Local Government which is also giving Panabo City a P5 million grant for the construction of Womens Development Center.
Aside from providing, upgrading and rehabilitating of basic infrastructure and services, MBUSSP also aims to strengthen the capacity of participating LGUs to plan, provide, manage and maintain municipal investment and services as well as contribute to the economic development and improvement of urban environment in Mindanao.
The project is borne out of the desire of the Philippine Government in delivering economic development that will raise living standards throughout Mindanao and sustain peace in Mindanao, Zoilo Gudin, Panabo City Planning and Development coordinator said in a briefing during the opening ceremony.
Mindanao has a population of 21,073,500 people, representing 23.9% of the countrys total population of 88.7 million. Its regions are among the poorest and least developed regions in the country.
Its urban population is estimated at 6 million, growing at a rate of about 35%, which is considerably below the national average of 52% but its urban poverty incidence was estimated at 15% in 2000, slightly below the national average of 18.5%.
It was noted that majority of the urban centers in Mindanao were unable to meet the demands and needs of their urban populations especially in term of access to basic urban infrastructure and service. (PIA XI/JMDAbangan)
