MANKAYAN, Benguet – The Mankayan municipal government appropriated some P10 million from its supplemental budget for this year to be used to purchase a property that will be used for the expansion of the municipal hall to cater to the increasing demand of the people for better services among other reasons.
Mayor Frenzel Ayong said that the town’s supplemental budget is now pending review by the provincial board prior to the implementation of the programs, projects and activities that were funded by the available funds of the municipality to help improve the delivery of services to the people in the barangays.
He added that the P10 million will be used to purchase a 1 to 2-hectare property in Tubo that will serve as an expansion area of the municipal hall and for the establishment of the local government’s motorpool.
Further, the expansion of the municipal hall will also serve as a venue to accommodate the offices of some government agencies that established their offices in the municipality for their employees to be able to cascade to the grassroots level their programs, projects and activities.
“There is no more room for expansion in the present site of our municipal hall that is why we have to look for other available spaces near the town proper for us to be able to expand the existing municipal building to cater to the growing needs of our increasing population. After the purchase of the lot, we will work on the funding for the construction of the needed public building to accommodate the offices that need expansion,” Mayor Ayong stressed.
Aside from the purchase of an additional lot to accommodate the expansion requirements of the local government, he claimed that the local government is looking into available private properties in Cabiten and Baguyos which will be bought by the local government to serve as its site for its proposed demo farm that will help in the production of agricultural crops by the farmers.
According to him, it is also equally important to provide the existing offices of concerned government agencies the appropriate spaces that could be used by the assigned officials and employees to effectively and efficiently deliver their programs, projects and activities to their projected beneficiaries in the municipality.
Mayor Ayong underscored that the town’s increasing population resulted in the significant increase in the clamor for better quality of services from the local government that is why the purchase of the property in Tuba was prioritized under the town’s supplemental budget this year so that whatever other improvements could be provided funding in the coming years to ensure the delivery of quality services to the people.
He expressed his gratitude to the present batch of barangay and municipal officials for supporting the plan of the local government to purchase additional lands that could be used to advance the existing programs, projects and activities of the present administration for the attainment of inclusive growth in the municipality, especially in the delivery of the services of the government to the grassroots level.
Mankayan is one of the five first-class municipalities in Benguet wherein bulk of its income is derived from the operation of large-scale mining companies operating in the municipality but complimented by the town’s agriculture and other sectors.
By HENT