Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said Malacañang has released P1.42 billion for the maintenance of national roads and installation of road safety devices across the country as part of efforts to have all national roads paved by 2014.
The amount released to the Department of Public Works and Highways includes P1.33 billion earmarked for 152 preventive maintenance projects that cover 141.26 kilometers of national roads.
An additional P85 million will go to the installation of adequate road safety devices along national roads.
“These infrastructure projects sustain the ongoing economic development efforts of the Aquino administration to bring direct, immediate and substantial benefits to the citizens,” Abad said.
Malacañang has committed to have all national roads paved by 2014, and all secondary roads by 2016.
For 2012, the DPWH will prioritize the preservation of road assets, decongestion of traffic in Metro Manila and other urban areas, support infrastructure for tourism destinations, access roads to airports, and flood control.
Earlier this year, President Aquino inaugurated a P60.8-million road project in Misamis Oriental, one of various items lined up under the Australian government-funded provincial road management facility (PRMF).
Data from the Australian Agency for International Development show that the P4.3-billion PRMF, a five-year program that runs until 2014, is aimed at helping local governments rehabilitate and maintain more than 1,000 kilometers of provincial roads in 10 provinces in Mindanao and the Visayas.
The Australian government has committed P1.8 billion for capacity-building activities and for the rehabilitation of roads.