DSWD-6 Assistant Regional Director for Operations Delia V. Bagolcol encouraged all the municipal mayors in Western Visayas to fast track the implementation of Kalahi-CIDSS projects before the deadline set by   the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Bagolcol made the appeal during the local government forum dubbed as “Pagsuguidanon: Forum of Local Government Units (LGUs) implementing Kalahi-CIDSS NCDDP Program 2018”.

“This is one way of communicating what we have been doing in Kalahi-CIDSS, what have we committed in so far, and what are we going to do now that the ADB that it will be on its deadliest deadline by June 30, 2018,” she said.

“We have been living with the grace period since last year.  This is no longer our regular timeline for implementation because it has already ended last December 2017.

The LGU forum is a series of consultation with local chief executives from the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Guimaras, Capiz, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.

The gathering was purposely made to update the chief executives and members of the Municipal Coordinating Team on the status of the implementation of different sub-projects and firm up commitments from the local government units on whether they can reach the June 30, 2018 deadline.

“We want this Pagsuguidanon to be an actual conversation on what are the issues specifically on the implementation of the ADB sub-projects, how can we face these problems, and how do we solve them with the very limited time that we have,” Bagolcol added.

Bagolcol reiterated that LGUs which could not complete their projects prior to the June 30,2018 deadline will shoulder the expenses in completing the sub-projects. By June 30, all the community accounts are closed.

They must hastily fast track the construction of the sub-projects so that they can maximize the grant provided by ADB, she said.

“We understand that you have limited capacities especially if you came from Tier 1 or Yolanda Response, but we need to work out how we can solve these problems because it also saddens us to see that the communities are deprived of government projects.  This is why we need to finish the sub-projects. It is not only said but it is taken into action.”

Hopefully, with the help of the seminar, the local chief executives and representatives can take what they have learned and materialize them to finish the sub-projects and eventually help their respective communities.

The Pagsuguidanon also served as a venue for the local chief executives and their planners to share their lessons and strategies to other Kalahi-CIDSS covered municipalities.#