Chapter 5 Improved Infrastructure and Logistics Support I. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Davao Region still needs to improve its infrastructure facilities and services. While the Davao International Airport has been recently completed, road infrastructure, seaport, and telecommunication facilities need to be upgraded. Flood control and similar structures are needed in flood prone areas while power and water supply facilities are still lacking in the region’s remote and underserved areas. While the region is pushing for increased production of staple crops, irrigation support facilities in major agricultural production areas are still inadequate. Off-site infrastructure in designated tourism and agri-industrial areas are likewise needed to encourage investment and spur economic activities. Accessibility and Mobility through Transport There is a need for the construction of new roads and improvement of the existing road network to provide better access and linkage within and outside the Region as an alternate to existing arterial and local roads. The lack of good roads in the interior parts of the municipalities and provinces connecting to major arterial roads constrains the growth of agriculture and industry in the Region; it also limits the operations of transport services due to high maintenance cost and longer turnaround time. Traffic congestion is likewise becoming a problem in highly urbanized and urbanizing areas like Davao City and Tagum City. While the Region is physically connected with the adjoining regions in Mindanao, poor road condition in some major highways also hampers inter-regional economic activities. The expansion of agricultural activities in the resettlement and key production areas necessitates the opening and construction of alternative routes and farm-to-market roads. As of 2003, the total road network of the Region was 14,149.21 kilometers. The road density of 0.72 km. per square km. of land area is still far below the national standard of 1.0. Among the provinces and cities, only Davao del Sur met the standard with a road density of 1.0 km. per square km. of land area while Davao Oriental had the lowest density at 0.38 km. per square km. of land area. Many bridges are still bailey and timber and need to be converted into permanent structures. These bridges are mostly located in Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, and the hinterlands of Davao City. In terms of road condition, approximately 12 percent of the Region’s total road network is paved. For national roads, only 57 percent of the total length of 1,466 kilometers is paved with either concrete or asphalt. Among the areas of the Region, only Panabo City’s national road is 100 percent paved. The unpaved roads comprised mostly of coastal and secondary national roads in four provinces of the Region. 51 Improved Infrastructure and Logistics Support While Davao Region is linked by roads to Regions X, XII, and XIII, some areterials roads need improvement, particularly the Davao City-Digos Road that connects to Region XII and the Davao Oriental-Surigao del Sur Road that links Davao Region to the southeastern portion of Region XIII. The road connection between Davao del Sur and Sarangani Province is not yet fully established while that in Davao del Norte connecting to Bukidnon in Region X, via Talaingod, and in Davao del Sur to Region XII, via Padada-Kiblawan and Malita, need to be opened. As a highly urbanized area, Davao City needs vehicular overpass and underpass to ease traffic congestion. The recently completed Davao International Airport has an improved operation efficiency and increased cargo and passenger handling capacity. The capacity of the airport facility, however, is not being fully utilized with low frequency of flights since it mostly caters to domestic flights. The adoption of an “open skies” policy needs to be pursued to maximize the utilization of the airport’s facilities and expand its services to the international market. The adoption of this policy will increase international trade and tourism activities in the Davao Region. The Region needs to improve further its international and inter-regional sea transport services. Although there exists a number of private ports in the region, these are used almost exclusively to ship out certain commodities. Inter-regional cargo transport is characterized by limited destinations/origins and coastal shipping is largely underdeveloped. This deficiency is due to the limited capacity and relatively lack of modern equipment and facility in the port of Davao. This was manifested by the stagnating volume of cargo within the range of 6 to 7 million metric tons from 1997 to 2002. The provision of bulk cargo handling facilities and expansion of berthing space are necessary to meet the growing requirements of the sea transport system in the region. Access to Potable Water and Irrigation Facilities Low access to potable water is still a major concern by the people of Davao Region. While majority of the urban areas are served with Level III water system, a sizeable portion of households remain dependent on Level I and Level II water systems and other sources. The situation is more critical in the rural areas wherein many Level I and Level II water facilities are not regularly sanitized. Low access is caused by uneven distribution of water facilities, inadequate supply of water and inefficiency in the operation of water systems. As of 2000, 75 percent of the Region’s total household population had access to potable water 20 . Sixty percent of this household population was served by Level I and Level II water systems. The Region’s fifteen Water Districts had a total of 178,010 service connections. Household population served by these facilities as of year 2003 reached 1,019,538. Irrigation facilities are still needed in the Region given its vast potential for development. As of 2003, Davao Region had a total potential irrigable area of 99,832 hectares of which 46,827 hectares or 47 percent are served with irrigation facilities. The remaining potential irrigable area in the Region of 53,005 hectares could be used for rice production when fully developed. The low coverage of irrigation systems was primarily affected by the lack of funds for the construction of new irrigation facilities as priorities were given to the rehabilitation of the old structures. These facilities were also constrained due to inefficiency in operation and maintenance, inadequate water supply due to forest denudation, and the low capacity of irrigator’s associations in managing the operations of the irrigation systems. Above all these, the continuing threat of conversion of rice paddies into other land uses likewise affected the operation of these systems as their utilization 20 DOH Special Report 2000 52 Davao Regional Development Plan 2004-2010 became inefficient. Given the vast potential for irrigation development in the region, priorities need to be focused in increasing the coverage of irrigation facilities. Other Infrastructure Logistic Support The limited access of people to ICT services and facilities is another primary concern. In Davao Region, telephone landlines and internet service facilities are concentrated in the cities and provincial capital towns. Rural areas are still relying on telegraph facilities and PCOs as the means of communication. In areas where PCOs and telephone landlines are not available, the fast growing network of Mobile Communication System filled in the gap. The inadequacy of communication facilities, particularly in the rural areas can be attributed to high cost of investment, low affordability level of consumers, and the lack of complementation and necessary support system in the provision of communication services. Currently, the Region is served by 198,518 telephone landlines, 150 PCOs, 5 ISPs, 159 cell sites, and 36 government telegraph stations. A total of 96,663 post paid cellular phone subscribers were recorded in 2001. In 2004, an international call center was launched in Davao City. Mindanao’s power grid supplies the power requirement of Davao Region. Despite sufficient power supply, the household energization rate remains low with the rapid increase in household number, power distribution problem in the rural areas, as well as the low affordability level of households. While power supply is currently sufficient, there is no guarantee that it can meet future demand with the rapid expansion of commercial and industrial activities within the Region and other parts of Mindanao. It is therefore imperative to consider the development of alternative sources of energy available in the Region such as mini hydro-power, solar, windmill, and biomass. As of 2003, the number of barangays energized in the Region reached 1,037 resulting in an energization rate of 89.55 percent. In the same period, 441,757 households were served with electricity indicating a 67.3 percent energization rate. The periodic recurrences of flash floods in some parts of the Region like Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Tagum City, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, and Davao City created damages to lives and properties. Occurrence of floods due to intermittent rainfall also destroyed thousands of hectares of rice fields and other plantation crops. Although flood control projects have been identified and implemented in these areas, these are not sufficient to address comprehensively the problem of flooding with the lack of complementary projects such as reforestation and drainage systems in urban areas. There are no existing sewerage facilities with treatment plant in the Davao Region. Pipes are used for sewerage and open and close ditches are used as storm drainage. Domestic wastewater is disposed through septic tanks, canals, storm drainage, rivers, and other natural disposal areas without treatment. Excreta is commonly disposed by the households through septic tanks and closed pits. The lack of appropriate sewerage and treatment facilities contributes to the poor environmental condition especially in the highly urbanized areas of the region.