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

Previously, residents of Barangay Balintad in Munai, Lanao del Norte, had to pick their way carefully across the Liangan River on an unsafe makeshift footbridge (left)  to reach the provincial road, about 80 meters away, that would connect them to the town’s commercial center and the national highway. Now, with the help of a new 42-meter-long suspension footbridge (right) completed November, 2010, through a partnership between the municipal government of Munai and USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, local farmers and other residents of Balintad and the neighboring barangays of Madaya, Tagoranao and Lingkuan are guaranteed safe and efficient pedestrian access, even when heavy rainfall causes the river to overflow its banks. The GEM Program, which is implemented under the oversight of the Mindanao Development Authority, has completed more than 1,190 water systems, solar dryers, boat landings, community centers, roadway upgrades and other community infrastructure projects across Mindanao, in partnership with local governments.