Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura, Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio Delos Reyes and Governor Bella Angara-Castillo will lead the inauguration ceremonies of the Bazal Bridge under the “Project for the Bridge Construction for Expanded Agrarian Reform Communities Development ” on January 20, 2011 in Barangay Maria Aurora, Aurora Province.
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 530 Million Japanese Yen or 27 0 Million Pesos funded under Japan's General Grant Aid Program.
The bridge is 110 meters long and connects Barangays Bazal and Malasin, The project is expected to generate additional income for farmer beneficiaries and ultimately upgrade the socio-economic and environmental conditions in the area. With the completion of the Bazal project, the mobility of agricultural products and commercial goods as well as access between the target agrarian reform communities (ARCs) with other expanded ARCs will vastly improve. The bridge will also directly benefit 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. Furthermore, the municipality of Maria Aurora, including the surrounding municipalities will substantially benefit from the project 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 358 ARCs nationwide. This Bazal bridge is a support service project to supplement the unmet needs of agrarian reform beneficiaries not covered by the ARISP III program.
Japan is the Philippines 'largest source of ODA and has been a long-time friend and partner in nationwide socio-economic development. This project serves as a continuing testimony of strategic partnership between Japan and the Philippines.
