Irrigators want ‘state of calamity’ in 5 Aklan towns

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

Farmer irrigators in Aklan want to declare the five towns under state of calamity following the temporary closure of irrigation canals. 

The System Management Committee composed of Federation of Irrigators Association. Inc. and local government units organized by the National  Irrigation Administration (NIA) to oversee the maintenance and operation of Aklan River Irrigation system had asked the provincial government of Aklan through the local legislative council on December 17 to act on it.  

The construction of irrigation dams and the cut-off of irrigation system on October 11, 2018 affected the irrigated lands of Banga, Kalibo and New Washington in the east side, and Lezo and Makato in the west side. 

The farmer irrigators cited the onset of El Nino or drought and program areas for rice production have not been irrigated  and planted.

Aklan board member Emmanuel Soviet Russia Dela Cruz, committee chairperson on agriculture, said the barangays affected are also willing to allocate emergency funds to help the farmers. 

“Eighty percent of rice production depends on the steady supply of irrigation water, and the total cut-off of irrigation canals and the long dry spell had greatly affected hectares of land planted for rice,” he added. 

Dela Cruz said the provincial government plans to tap the services of local drillers for manual drilling using shallow tube wells and to procure diesel-fired water pumps, fertilizers, seeds for the farmers.  

Aklan governor Florencio Miraflores, for his part, had endorsed the declaration of a state of calamity of the five municipalities to provide immediate assistance for most affected farmers. 

The province can utilize 20 percent of its calamity fund and 30 percent of quick response funds to mitigate the widespread effects of the closure of irrigation canals as soon as the Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan approves the governor’s proposal.