Information and news about the USAID Growth with Equity in Mindanao III (GEM 3) Project

Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney was in Tawi-Tawi to inaugurate the Sanga-Sanga (Bongao) airport runway, which has been improved and extended from 1,608 meters to 1,920 meters, and widened from 18 to 30 meters. With her are (l-r): Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chairman of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo); Bongao Mayor Albert Que; Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino  (partly hidden) of the Western Mindanao Command; Ruben Ciron, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP); and Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sahali. The runway upgrade is part of an airport infrastructure partnership project involving the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), CAAP, the provincial government, and the United States government, through USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, which is implemented under the oversight of MEDCo.

Published in www.mindanao.com, August 20, 2009