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THE
volume of motor-vehicle traffic in the island-province
of Basilan has posted a marked increase during the last
two years.
It may
be an indication of the increase in economic activities
on this island, which was associated in the past with
Abu Sayyaf-linked fighting and kidnappings.
“For the
second year in a row, there has been a marked increase
in vehicular traffic,” reported the Growth with Equity
in Mindanao (GEM), a US Agency for International
Development-funded assistance program.
GEM
traced the growth of vehicular traffic to the link
between shipping and land transport through the roll-on,
roll-off (Roro) system.
In 2007,
the GEM said, the number of vehicles that passed through
the two Basilan ports with Roro access—Isabela and
Lamitan—totaled 11,288. This was an increase of 41
percent from the previous year level. GEM said it based
its figures from the data gathered by the Philippine
Ports Authority.
GEM said
that “the average number of vehicles per ship has,
likewise, increased, from eight in 2006 to 11 in 2007.”
The
increase in traffic happened “despite the fact that only
one shipping line, Aleson Shipping, is providing Roro
ferry services to the two ports,” said Nikki Meru, media
liaison officer of GEM.
GEM
quoted a World Bank Development Indicators Report for
2003 that “suggests a high correlation between
increasing road traffic and accelerated economic
development.”
Meru
said that in poverty-stricken Basilan, for instance,
“where agriculture is the main livelihood, Roro is an
increasingly vital conduit for selling produce and
accessing vital goods and services.”
The GEM
report said that the increase in Roro traffic was
heaviest in Lamitan, with 56 percent. More than half of
these vehicles were cargo trucks. In Isabela, it added,
such vehicles made up only 20 percent of the traffic,
indicating a shift to Lamitan as the province’s
preferred port for cargo transport via Roro.
The
Lamitan Roro facility was completed in May 2005 through
a partnership between GEM, the provincial government,
the Regional Ports Authority of the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao and the Philippine Ports Authority.
Since
then, Roro traffic in Basilan has more than tripled,
from 200 vehicles in January 2006 to 900 in December,
the GEM report said.
The Roro
transport system connects the country’s three major
island groups, passing through the islands that were
usually bypassed by major shipping lines.
The Roro
ports in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte; Siasi, Sulu and
Bongao,Tawi-Tawi, serve as the southernmost link of
western nautical highway, a 900-kilometer stretch of
roads and ports.
These
southernmost ports, including the other key ports in the
Sulu archipelago, were designed and constructed by GEM
with their respective local governments.
The Roro
speeds up the delivery of cargo carried on land vehicles
which simply roll off or onto ferry vessels along
special ramps, GEM said. Cargo loss or damage is
minimized, and handling charges are reduced owing to the
shorter time spent in loading and unloading.
Last
month, GEM quoted President Arroyo as saying in Cagayan
de Oro City, that “indeed, the
US has worked side by side with our military and local
officials on a large number of community public works
projects.”
Arroyo,
also said that “this outreach has built more than
buildings—it has built trust, which is the basis for
effective and lasting democracy.” |
