Embassy of Japan's Head of Chancery, Minister Jiro Okayama and Agrarian Reform Undersecretary Narciso B. Nieto will lead the groundbreaking ceremonies of the Bazal Bridge under the “Project for the Bridge Construction for Expanded Agrarian Reform Communities Development ” on December 10, 2009 in Barangay Maria Aurora, Aurora Province.
This construction of the Bazal Bridge is a collaborative project by the Provincial Government of Aurora, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the municipality of Maria Aurora. The cost for bridge construction is approximately 610 Million Japanese Yen or 321 Million Philippine Pesos at .5261Php/JPY funded under Japan's General Grant Aid Program. The project aims to improve access between the target agrarian reform communities (ARCs) with other expanded ARCs. The project also envisions generating additional income for farmer beneficiaries, improving the mobility of farm products and commercial goods as well as upgrading the socio-economic and environmental conditions in the area. The construction work is estimated to take 17 months. The bridge will be 110 meters long and will connect Barangays Bazal and Malasin, directly benefiting not only the students and staff of the Aurora State College Bazal Campus, but the more than 2,000 local residents in Bazal area and surrounding areas as well. Once it is completed, the municipality of Maria Aurora, including the surrounding municipalities will substantially benefit from it especially during heavy rains and typhoon months when some communities in Barangay Bazal become isolated.
Japan supports the development goals of the Philippine Government's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as a mechanism to alleviate farmers' struggles by assisting projects aimed at strengthening infrastructure improvement and socio-economic development in rural areas for many decades. A major project under CARP that is being assisted by the Japanese Government through its Yen loan scheme is the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Project Three (ARISPIII), which has empowered farmer beneficiaries in around 220 ARCs nationwide. This Bazal bridge construction project is a support service to supplement the unmet needs of agrarian reform beneficiaries not covered by the ARISP III program.
The Government of Japan's assistance to the Philippines encompasses all sectors along the lines of the Philippine Government's Medium Term Development and Investment Plan. Japan is the Philippines' largest source of ODA and has been a long-time friend and partner in nationwide socio-economic development.
