The damaged roads in Davao Occidental are taking a heavy toll on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

One of the main sources of living in Jose Abad Santos town is fishing, However, fishermen and small business owners are having a difficult time selling their catch due to damaged roads.

According to DTI-Davao Occidental, the damaged and poorly maintained roads have a negative impact on many small businesses.

The agency added that complaints about infrastructure-related problems are among the most common concerns raised by business owners.

“Grabe gyud ang challenge when it comes to logistics and transportation. We relate it to the appropriate government agency ang mga reklamo sa MSME,” DTI-Davao Occidental Program Manager, Candido Limkinid, said.

DTI-Davao Occidental explained that transportation costs have increased due to poor road conditions.

Limkinid said the issue has been raised repeatedly during meetings with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Davao Occidental.

"We have council DPWH Davao Occidental and pabalik balik ang ganong agenda malaki ang impact to business development as much as all these LGU to be productive in business but kung may issue sa infrastructure development so yun ang (mahirap),” Limkinid said.

As a result of the high transportation costs, some business owners are forced to increase the prices of their products.

"Yung Don Mar (MARCELINO), JAS, labi na ang Sarangani nag do-double, triple ang price monitoring meron silang justification with the transportation cost paano (daw) sila kikita kung hindi sila mag add on sa transportation. Meron naman (kaming) konting consideration,” Limkinid added.

DPWH-Davao has yet to respond when asked for comment.