Maydolong-Basey road project
(ROEL T.AMAZONA)
MAYDOLONG, Eastern Samar – The construction of the Maydolong-Basey road will benefit not only ordinary travelers but to the residents where it traverses.
Reynaldo Ladiao,60 and a resident of Barangay Del Pilar said that they are happy that finally their village will be connected to the rest of town with the construction of the Maydolong-Basey road.
Last July 15, a groundbreaking took place in Del Pilar, an upland village, led by 4Ps parry-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan. The project has a cost of more than P333 million.
“Our farm produce can now reach the town easily unlike before when we need to walk for more than an hour to the river bank and then travel by motorboat for two to three hours to reach the market to sell our products,” Ladiao said.
“The paved road will lessen spoilage of our products which could result in higher income for us,” he added, saying that traders could now travel to their village with ease.
Most of the residents of the village rely on selling root crops and vegetables as their main source of livelihood.
Aside from selling their products, the road project will also benefit their students who are studying in schools outside Del Pilar.
Karen Ladiao, 18, said that with a lack of public transport, she has to walk three hours from their village just to reach their school in Lapgap National High School where she is enrolled as a senior high student.
Their teacher has to dismiss them as early as 2 pm for them to go home early, she said.
Her mother, Maria, 48, said that her other six children failed to finish their studies due to the absence of a concrete road in their village, aside from sheer poverty.
“If possible I want my youngest child to finish her studies and earn a degree,” she said.
The road, once completed, will cut short the travel time from the present four hours to one-and-a-half to two hours or from more than 200 kilometers road of Borongan-Quinapundan-Basey to about 80 kilometers of Maydolong-Basey road.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Libanan asked residents of Maydolong especially those who live in villages where the road traverses to help in protecting the environment.
“Let us not compromise the safety and protection of our environment,” the solon said.
A pledge of commitment was signed by stakeholders to maintain, conserve and protect the natural beauty of the environment surrounding the road that will cross the Maydolong-Balangkayan-Llorente close canopy area which is located within the Samar Island Natural Park.
Building or constructing any structures like houses will be prohibited within the close canopy area and steel fences will be constructed to prevent people from crossing and encroaching the protected area.
Libanan added that this road will be useful during times of calamity and disaster especially since authorities would always close to traffic the Buray-Taft road during heavy rainfall due to flooding and possible landslides. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
