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Printed by the Bohol Sunday Post

In search for explanation on what smells like a dam scam in the province, members of the Hugpong sa mga Mag-uumang Bol-anon-Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Humabol-KMP) dared officials of the National Irrigation Administration-Bohol to a dialogue at 9:30 in the morning tomorrow, November 5 at the office of NIA in Pilar.

According to Humabol Chair Ruben Sobior, they had also invited the governor, vice-governor and the three congressmen of Bohol to be present during the dialogue.          

The farmers, supposed beneficiaries of the number of dam projects in the province, had united in raising concerns on the implementation, operation and maintenance of the projects, Sobior said.

Poor services and high rates of irrigation service fee will be among the issues that will be discussed, in addition to the question on the many dam projects implemented in the province that remained futile to serve the farmers.

While dams were constructed in the different areas of the country to improve agricultural produce and increase the farmers' income, it resulted to some problems, inconvenience and questions instead, according to the Humabol leader.

Sobior cited the case of Malinao dam or the Bohol Irrigation Project phase 1 (BHIP1) which he alleged had caused hectares of lands to be unproductive.

He further expressed doubt that the Bayongan Dam or BHIP 2 can really irrigate an even larger area of farmlands as targeted, citing that the dam relies on rainwater and the spills from already insufficient Malinao Dam.

Moreover, Sobior expressed lament that the funds for the construction of the Talibon dam had already been used up while the project remained idle and the investigation had frozen.

Also, there are already a number of mini-dams which could not even operate well, Sobior added.

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