P18M NIA project in Masbate inaugurated

By: SARAH C. IMPERIAL

NAGA CITY — The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in Bicol has inaugurated inaugurated the Matagbac Communal Irrigation Project (CIP) in Barangay Matagbac, Milagros, Masbate on July 29. The project was completed on June 10, 2015 at the cost of P18M.

Director Vicente R. Vicmudo, regional manager of NIA Bicol, said the finished irrigation system will benefit some 200 farmers tilling 200 hectares of rice farm in Milagros town. The newly completed NIA irrigation project consists of the following structures and facilities: one checkgate dam; one unit of elevated flume or canal; three units of barrel siphon; two units of headgates; two units of road crossing, and 3.10 kilometers of lined or concrete canal, Vicmudo said. Invited at the inauguration ceremonies were Masbate Gov. Vicente Homer Revil, Rep. Elisa Kho, Milagros Mayor Natividad Isabel Magbalon, and the officers and members of the Matagbac-Milagros Irrigators Association.

NIA officials who joined the inauguration rites includedVicmudo, NIA Bicol Engineering and Operations chief Engr. Homer Diokno, NIA Sorsogon-Masbate head Engr. Alan Fabricante, and NIA Masbate officer-in-charge Carol Ranola.

The NIA regional director also said that for 2015, NIA is undertaking the construction and rehabilitation of 21 irrigation projects in the province of Masbate with a total allocation of P40.6M. These projects will irrigate 56 hectares of previously unirrigatedricelands and restore and rehabilitate irrigation facilities in 276 hectares. Masbate’s level of irrigation development as of Dec. 31, 2014 is merely 27.72 percent, the lowest among the six provinces of Bicol Region.

The completion of Matagbac CIP, which will benefit some 200 hectares of ricelands, is a big boost to the lives of farmers in Milagros, Masbate, Vicmudo said.