Tubod, Lanao del Norte – Japanese consultants tapped by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) came to this province last April 22 to inspect the Alternative Fuel Investment Project (AFIP) site located at the municipality of Linamon.

The technical consultants were composed of Hidetsugu Kawakami (Regional Development), Hideto Wakabayashi (Alternative Fuel), and Naoto Morioka (Agriculture).

The inspection team visited various areas in Linamon identified as nursery and corn plantation sites that will used to supply the Metro Iligan Regional Agri-Industrial Center (MIRAIC) which is also situated in the same town.

The AFIP is a component program of the multi-billion peso Metro Iligan Regional Metro Iligan Regional Infrastructure Development Project (MIRIDP) set to be completed on June this year.

“The approval of the corn-based alternative fuel project will bring about faster economic growth and improved livelihood for the people of Lanao del Norte more importantly our hardworking farmers”, said Engr. Dennis Aguipo (MIRIDP-PMO Project Director).

Mirasol Garcia, Acting Planning Officer of the Municipal Development Fund Office (MDFO), part of the inspection team who recently visited the province expressed her satisfaction on how the project is being managed.

“It’s managed naman satisfactorily but because of the peace and order situation (last August 2008), we requested for an extension 3 times”, explained Ms. Garcia.

The MDFO is the fund conduit for the MIRIDP project and is responsible for all the claims for payment relative to the implementation of said project. The MDFO acts as the fund manager of the biggest infrastructure project here in the province.

After the site inspection, the consultants will then draft their recommendation as to the viability and sustainability of the proposed alternative fuel project for submission to the LGU of Lanao del Norte.

Also part of the latest inspection group were: Flery Chan (Senior Project Officer – JICA), Nagaishi Masafumi (Senior Representative – JICA), Yamamoto Masashi (Mindanao Representative – JICA), Engr. Oh (Project Manager – HANJIN Construction), Engr. Dennis Aguipo (MIRIDP-PMO Project Director), Engr. Juliet Amas (MIRIDP Acting Project Manager), Globen Catubigan (Provincial Architect), Adela Ancheta (MIRIDP staff), and Marilyn Ballesteros (MIRIDP Engineer 1). VNL/PIO-LDN