| Smooth Walk to Town |
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An unsafe bamboo footbridge with a crumbling causeway (left) once provided the primary pedestrian access between the Tausug community of Purok Paglaum, Barangay Poblacion, and the town center of Pitogo in Zamboanga del Sur. It was replaced recently with a 44-meter pre-cast concrete footbridge and an upgraded 76-meter rock causeway, (right) by USAID's Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, under the oversight of the Mindanao Development Authority. The new footbridge benefits approximately 3,000 residents, including students, farmers and fisherfolk who use it for transporting their products. The bridge is among 69 barangay infrastructure projects constructed by GEM in Zamboanga del Sur and Pagadian City, and one of more than 1,110 such projects, including water systems, solar dryers, boat landings, trading centers, bridges and roadway upgrades, constructed by GEM in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.
Published in Daily Zamboanga Times, November 6, 2010 and Zamboanga Today, November 6, 2010 |
