TIMMAWA no show in PSU forum hit
Posted on February 10, 2003 - Filed Under News |
STA. MARIA-Various farmer leaders assailed the Tignay Dagiti Mannalon a Mangwayawaya ti Agno (TIMMAWA), a non-government organization that advocates an anti-irrigation position, for snubbing a public forum organized by the Pangasinan State University (PSU) to discuss the Agno River Integrated Irrigation Project Friday.
The farmer leaders were led by Marcelo Blando, chairman of the Pangasinan Agriculture and Fishery Council whose group supports the irrigation project which will irrigate more than 70,000 hectares in Pangasinan.
It was learned that TIMMAWA, through the use of the internet and supported by a Japanese NGO, convinced the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to postpone the funding of the project estimated at $500 million.
Reports said that TIMMAWA did this by magnifying negative but minor issues, not representative of the opinions of the greater majority of Pangasinan farmers.
The group also claimed to represent thousands of Pangasinan farmers when it has only few members mostly from upland areas, Blando asserted.
Because of the noise of TIMMAWA the irrigation project has been delayed for more than a year already.
The public forum was attended by nearly 200 leaders from the farmers’ groups and various stakeholders of the project.
TIMMAWA initially accepted the invitation to attend the forum but it did not send any representative.
Six speakers were invited to give information about project costs and benefits of the irrigation project.PSU President Rodolfo Asanion opened the forum while Dr. Artemio Rebugio, PSU vice president acted as moderator.
In the forum, it was revealed that the first phase of the project will cover 34,450 hectares and will serve 28,000 families of farmers. The project costs P6.89 billion to be implemented for five years from 2003 to 2008.
The project is also expected to control annual flooding of Pangasinan plains.
Among the speakers invited were Congressman Orlando Soriano of the National Confederation of Irrigators’ Association , Department of Environment and Natural Resources representatives, National Irrigation Administration and the San Roque Power Corporation.
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