IMAGE OF THE DAY

US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney is greeted by Zamboanga City Vice Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco (center) and city tourism officer Cecile San Juan upon her arrival at City Hall.

New US envoy inaugurates bridge in Basilan

US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney visited the island province of Basilan to inaugurate a P20-million concrete bridge in the Municipality of Sumisip, once stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.

The lady ambassador turned over the Cabcaban Bridge, a 24-meter, two-lane post-tensioned concrete girder bridge to the local government of Sumisip. The new bridge replaced a deteriorating spillway, which posed a danger to communities, as it was regularly flooded when the water swelled during the rainy season.

“This bridge will further energize the productive spirit that exists in Basilan and help to make your communities more productive,” said Ambassador Kenney.

She added that the bridge complements other important programs that USAID and its Philippine partners are implementing in Basilan and throughout Mindanao in the areas of micro-finance, education, improved governance, family planning, health and nutrition, environmental management, and renewable energy.

Constructed under USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, the new bridge will benefit approximately 52,000 people living in the municipality of Sumisip. It will also serve the hundreds of public and private vehicles that pass through the Basilan circumferential road daily, transporting agricultural products to and from the neighboring municipalities of Tipo-Tipo, Maluso and Lantawan.

Secretary Jesus Dureza, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, and Jon Linborg, USAID Mission Director, accompanied Ambassador Kenney, who began her assignment in the Philippines last month, after serving almost three years as US Ambassador to Ecuador.

Economic Growth Advisor of USAID-Philippines Robert Barnes Basilan Governor Wahab Akbar, and Sumisip Mayor Gulam Hataman also attended the ceremony.

According to Dureza, the construction of the bridge is part of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s assistance plan for Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, which consists of concrete investments, designed to address the region’s peace and development imperatives.

GEM is a five-year initiative that began in September 2002. It undertakes a wide range of projects to increase economic productivity, and to contribute to attaining lasting peace in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao. The Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDco) oversees GEM’s implementation. (PRESS RELEASE)