New road project improves travel, agri growth in Aklan town

By Explained PH - Aklan

Advancing transportation infrastructures, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has finally completed the P28.9 million road access in Batan, Aklan, to provide efficient travel to the residents and improve the agricultural sector of the municipality.

While the new road access benefits the local farmers, further promoting economic development in the municipality, it also acts as a detour to the province of Capiz. The newly completed road travels through Barangay Damayan in Sapian town, which further smoothens the transport services.

Engr. Nerie D. Bueno, who recently took over as director of the DPWH Region VI, explained that the project had a concreted 2.41-kilometer Portland Concrete Cement Pavement (PCCP) road that also comes with a structural concreting of a drainage system. PCCP is a concrete mix of cement, water, sand, aggregate, as well as admixtures, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The DPWH Aklan District Engineering Office, in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), undertook the P28.9 million road concreting project through DTI's Roads Leveraging Linkages of Industry and Trade (ROLL IT).

Formally established on Nov. 29, 2016, the ROLL IT Program, also known as the DTI-DPWH Convergence Program, is a working agreement between DPWH and DTI along with the Board of Investments (BOI).

In accordance with a working agreement, the three groups collaborate to plan, budget, assess, and prioritize manufacturing infrastructure projects in priority economic and industrial production areas in the country. They also undertake legislative advocacy as well as overseeing and enforcing these projects.