The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is working to improve an existing gravel road to support the Inabal woven cloth industry of the Bagobo Tagabawa community in Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
The road improvement project is a planned seven (7)-year endeavor of the DPWH Davao del Sur District Engineering Office (DEO) from 2020 to 2026 to connect through a concrete road the Tubod – Libertad – Bitaug Road in the town of Bansalan to the Davao – Cotabato Road section in Makilala, Cotabato Province.
Included in the P146.5-million multi-year project are the concreting of a two (2)-lane, 4.92-kilometer long, 6.7-meter wide portland cement concrete pavement road with 1.5-meter gravel shoulder on both sides, and the improvement of minor drainage structures.
In a status report to DPWH Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan and Undersecretary for Mindanao Operations Eugenio R. Pipo Jr., DPWH Regional Office 11 Director Juby B. Cordon said that a P9.51-million civil work involving the concrete pouring on a 300-meter section of the road was completed ahead of schedule in April 2024.
The recent accomplishment in the project adds to the completed 610.5-meter section in 2023 in the amount of 14.26 million, resulting to a total of 1.67 kilometers of concrete road to date.
When fully completed, the road is seen to generate growth in the locality by making the culture and practice of weaving Inabal more accessible to the public through selling of textiles, wearables, and other products.
For local farmers in Bansalan town, the road will also double as a route for the efficient delivery of agricultural products such as coconut, bananas, coffee, cacao, and sugar to the nearby market centers.
The road concreting project is a part of the Roads Leveraging Linkages for Industry and Trade Infrastructure (ROLL-IT) Program, which is a partnership between the DPWH and the Department of Trade and Industries (DTI).