WAO, LANAO DEL SUR, November 27, 2018 – There is an urgent need for the rehabilitation and improvement of the road networks for a convenient access to the vast farm lands and potential tourism development projects in Wao, Lanao del Sur.
This was bared recently by Wao Municipal Mayor Bobby B. Balicao during a courtesy visit by Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) officials, technical staff, and prospective investors in the 24,000 hectare SPDA property in the Municipalities of Wao and Bumbaran, Lanao del Sur.
Balicao disclosed that aside from the vast tracts of farm lands, the municipality of Wao has about 14,000 hectares of virgin forest and several other locations that are suitable for tourism-related projects.
But unfortunately, he said, there is a huge problem on road networks that would connect to the various cultivated farm lands and tourist spots as he sought the help of the Authority for the sourcing out of the funding for the infrastructure development of the municipality where the SPDA property is located.
Officials and technical staff of the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) led by Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Abdulghani ‘Gerry’ A. Salapuddin and prospective investors, had conducted an ocular inspection to the SPDA land property in Park Area, Wao, Lanao del Sur, last week.
After the inspection, the SPDA officials together with the said investors, had paid a courtesy call to Mayor Bobby B. Balicao at his office to inform him on the plan of the Authority to transform its property into a Mindanao Economic Zone (MinEZ).
For his part, SPDA Administrator Abdulghani ‘Gerry’ A. Salapuddin said that the planned development on the 2,500 hectares of the SPDA property in Wao and Bumbaran applying the mechanized modern farming for corn production for the supply of the needs in Saudi Arabia, would definitely spur economic growth in this part of Lanao del Sur.
“This is going to be a solution to the shortage of agricultural products in the country and a profitable business venture of the SPDA”, Salapuddin said. He added, “it is an irony that Mindanao possesses vast tracks of fertile agricultural lands but still, the country is crying foul on the shortage of rice”.
Salapuddin said the Authority also needs the support coming from the local government officials to fast-tract the realization of the projects and further assured that there would be no dislocation among the informal settlers and tillers in the area.
(For further inquiries, please contact Celestino B. Siglos, Ed.D. at the SPDA Administrator’s Office at tel. nos. (082)297-6664; 298-5745; email: info@spda.gov.ph)
