Portal to make farm road projects trackable

A PORTAL will be launched in February to facilitate the monitoring of farm-to-market road (FMR) projects, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

The platform, known as FMR Watch, was developed by the DA’s Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE) and will allow the public to track the status, progress, and timelines of FMR projects.

BAFE Director Cristy Cecilia P. Polido told reporters at a briefing that the portal will provide detailed information on each project, including budget, exact location, technical specifications and contractors. Geotagged photos documenting construction progress will also be uploaded.

“The portal can be accessed by all stakeholders: the public, our citizens, local government units (LGUs) and everybody interested in knowing the progress of our implementation of FMRs,” Ms. Polido said.

She said the platform will also feature data on completed projects, the total length of roads constructed, the number of farmers reached, and the volume of agricultural produce transported.

The DA added that it is planning to integrate livestreams of project auctions into the portal and upload all procurement and bid-related documents.

FMR Watch will also allow the public to submit complaints related to FMR projects. Users will be allowed to submit photos and videos to support their reports. 

Ms. Polido said responses to complaints can be received as early as 24 hours.

The DA is taking over FMR projects from the Department of Public Works and Highways this year.

The FMR program has been allocated P33 billion in this year’s budget, which will fund the construction of over 1,600 roads. The funding will also address more than 1,000 FMRs approved from 2021 to 2025 that have yet to be completed, according to BAFE.

With the takeover, the DA said it expects to accelerate construction, reduce costs, and lower the previous estimated price of P15 million per kilometer for a five-meter-wide FMR.

“Our initial figure is P12 million (per kilometer). Of course, that does not include the contractor’s profit, but the indirect and direct costs could be as low as P12 million,” Ms. Polido said.

In some areas, three-meter-wide FMRs may be built if traffic volume does not merit a wider road, she said. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel