Negros Oriental Gov. Manuel “Chaco” Sagarbarria said that most the big ticket projects for the Negros Island Region are located in Negros Occidental.
Sagarbarria, NIR Regional Development Council chairman, was in Bacolod for the RDC’s 4th Quarter Meeting on Thursday, Dec. 4.
“The bulk of the budget is in the Occidental side, it includes a lot of improvements of hospitals, infrastructure projects, farm to market roads and tourism,” he said, which is also understandable because it is the biggest of the three provinces.
The NIR is composed of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
Hopefully, we can balance out the projects for the next year, Sagarbarria said.
Among the Infrastructure Flagship Projects in the NIR are the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Economic Highway, Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridge and the nautical highway, Edward Du, RDC Infrastructure Development Committee chair, reported during the 4th Quarter Meeting.
The Negros Occidental Economic Highway is 58.88 percent complete, covering, 48.88 km with 13 new bridges and bike lanes, Du said.
The Panay-Guimaras-Negros Islan Bridges are in the detailed engineering design stage, with 96.22 percent completion. The projects will significantly reduce travel time and boost economic activity, he added.*