COTABATO CITY – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Social Fund, one of the special projects supervised by the ARMM, takes pride of its success in constructing school buildings and other small infrastructures which have benefited thousands of school children in conflict-affected and poverty stricken communities in the autonomous region.
ASF which is operating on a $30-million additional financing from the World Bank in 2010, covers 596 of the 870 remaining unserved villages in the region.
As of December 2013, a total of 87 school buildings composed of one to three classrooms were either constructed or rehabilitated and 75 more are still on-going in the provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.
In the provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan, there were 83 school buildings identified, prioritized and already implemented and Sulu has the highest completed sub-projects reaching 24 with 15 on-going. While Tawi-Tawi is next with 17 completed, 5 on-going and Basilan with 16 completed and 6 ongoing construction, respectively.
In the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which constitutes two districts each, a total of 79 sub-projects were identified and implemented. Of the number, 30 were completed and 49 ongoing construction.
Abba R. Kuaman, ASF project manager, said these are just few of the thousands of community interventions we have done in response to ARMM Governor and ASF BOD chairman Mujiv Hataman’s agenda of advancing the quality of life of the underprivileged in the region.
Kuaman said: “The completed school sub-projects are now benefiting school children in far-flung communities who in the past have experienced attending classes under a shaded tree or dilapidated structures due to limited classrooms,” adding “we are happy that under the Hataman administration and with the help of our partners on the ground, we were able to deliver the services needed by our people in ARMM.”
He added: “We would like to assure everyone that we have made available in our data bank the list of all sub-projects implemented for reference and transparency purposes.”
ASF’s implementation of community infrastructures are facilitated through its Community Development Assistance component adopting the so-called community-driven development approach wherein people’s organization are given the chance to manage and implement sub-projects according to their needs.
Expressing contentment over the sub-project in their area, villae chairman Bandaw Irijani of Pislong in Siasi town in Sulu, said: “ ARMM Social Fund is a gift from Above” being the only service provider that gave them the opportunity to put-up school building in their community.
Irijani’s statement was supported by Nurhima, an out-of-school youth at the village of Taingting in Parang town who also shared happiness on their sub-projects, said in dialect, “Pasal ha project ini, matuy na in plano ko mag-school ha ukab school ini. Magsukol tuod ha ASFP.” (Because of this project, my dream to continue my study is now possible. Thanks so much to ASFP).
ARMM Social Fund, which cited a report by the Provincial Social Welfare Office in Sulu, said Nurhima is one of the many children who were forced to stop studying for reasons of limited classrooms.
The Provincial Social Welfare Offices in the region are ASF’s partners on the ground responsible in the supervision of field workers providing technical assistance to the People’s Organization.
Apart from the school buildings, the small infrastructures such as timber foot bridges, tire paths, warehouses and solar driers, hanging bridges, health stations and mini-wharves were also constructed region-wide.
The ASF which is to end its project life in May this year and is expected to complete all its remaining sub-projects making more communities empowered and embracing the values of transparency and good governance. (Irene F. Gonzales)
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