DPWH eyes June 2022 completion of road connecting Central, Northern Mindanao

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is targeting to complete the Puntian-Arakan Road which could improve travel between the Central and Northern Mindanao regions by June this year.

In a statement on Wednesday, DPWH said that the P830.87-million project implemented by its Regional Office 12 aims to provide an alternative connecting route for Region 10 and Region 12 by linking Bukidnon’s Kibawe town to the municipality of Arakan in Cotabato.

DPWH Secretary Roger Mercado said that per reports by Regional Director Basir Ibrahim, the works currently conducted are for the project’s remaining 1.12-kilometer section worth P110-million, funded through the national budget.

The Puntian-Arakan Road has an actual length of 23.6 kilometers, including two bridges with combined length of 90 meters, and a slope protection that spans 2,381 square meters.

Civil works for the project such as road opening, road concreting, and construction of concrete bridges and protective structures have started in 2016, DPWH Senior Undersecretary Rafael Yabut said.

Since then, portions of the Puntian-Arakan Road have been opened and utilized by locals from the communities it passes through.

“We are ensuring that the road is going to be completed in order to provide unhampered movement of goods and services as well as the delivery of government and private initiative extension programs for Mindanaoans,” Mercado said.—LDF, GMA News