By NONOY E. LACSON
JOLO, Sulu –President Arroyo is expected to lead on Monday United States (US) and national government officials in the inauguration of the newly completed P232 million ($5.2 million) Jolo Domestic Airport runway improvement project here.
Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan Friday said the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program under GEM-3 has granted at least P142 million ($3.2M) while the national government has infused some P90 million ($2 M) for the development of the domestic airport in this capital town of Sulu.
Department heads of the national government, including outgoing US Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, are expected to accompany Mrs. Arroyo during the inauguration of the vital project here.
The project started on October 3, 2008 by USAID-GEM-3 in coordination with the Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), the provincial executive here said.
Tan said business leaders and government officials in the province expressed high hopes that the Jolo airport runway expansion will play a major role in the development of the province’s trade and commerce including the tourism industry.
“Sulu has an abundance of agricultural and sea products and that the ability to get these products to market quickly would boost the local economy,” Tan said.
“It helps the peace situation when people are engaged in gainful livelihood,” the governor added.
He said the airport’s runway was extended from 1,200 meters to 1,845 meters and widened from 18 meters to 30 meters, and is now an all-concrete runway to allow the facility to accommodate larger-bodied aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s.
The GEM Program was implemented under the oversight of the Mindanao Economic Development Council.
For his part, Jolo Mayor Hussin Amin said that prior to the completion of the project, the old runway could accommodate only 18-seater planes. A lone commercial flight currently plies the Zamboanga-Jolo route.
Amin recalled that the cancellation of larger commercial flights to Jolo in the 1990s had a negative effect on local business.
He added that the expanded runway is expected to be a major selling point among investors, particularly those involved in the Sulu Archipelago’s expanding mariculture industry.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/233527/inauguration-p232m-sulu-airport-project-set