'Build steel bridges in Visayas, Mindanao'

MANILA, Philippines - Lawmakers appealed to President Aquino yesterday to immediately build modular steel bridges to the Visayas and Mindanao, which were recently battered by a series of typhoons and earthquakes, to restore economic activity and speed up the rehabilitation of calamity-hit areas.

Negros Oriental Rep. Henry Pryde Teves and former senator Aquilino Pimentel said numerous bridges in the calamity-hit areas were destroyed and few were repaired to their original condition, thus hampering the recovery of affected communities.

“We just had (tropical storm) ‘Sendong’ in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, destroying 12 bridges; Magnitude 6.9 earthquake destroyed 32 bridges in Negros Oriental. Most of (these bridges) are concrete, which cannot be re-installed like Lego-type steel modular bridges of Mabey or Eiffel,” Pimentel said, referring to the French and British firms that have been supplying bridges to the country since the early 1990s.

He also said there are some 5,000 Agricultural Reform Communities (ARCs) that need vital bridges to market their produce.

“Imagine the national government spends about P12 billion annually to assist these ARCs in the Visayas and Mindanao but lands are mostly underproductive due to lack of bridges, transport/labor costs attributed to going down the ravine simply wipes out the surplus income hoped for the farmer,” he said.