TOINKZ!: The Working Secretary

Sunday, July 31, 2016

The Working Secretary - 'Green' elephants

'Green' elephants

MONUMENT OF PLAIN, SIMPLE
MISUSE OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS

Standing in the vast expanse of rice fields in my hometown, M'lang in North Cotabato, are two modern rice processing centers (RPC) which cost government between P8-M to P10-M designed to help rice farmers add value to their products.

The concept is very beautiful.

Instead of just selling rice grains, the RPCs will be there to mill the palay right after drying and the farmer would then sell his product no longer in grains form but in neatly bagged sparkling white rice.

For at least a couple of years now since the two RPCs were erected, not a single white sparkling rice grain has come out of these modern processing facilities.

The reason?

The RPCs have not been connected to the power lines because the farmers' groups which were given the modern milling facilities could not afford the cost of the wires for the electrical connection.

The mothballed RPCs in M'lang are only two of the many other units of modern rice mills established by the Department of Agriculture all over the country which are gathering dust.

The cause of the problem is the failure to ask the farmers a basic question: "Do you have the money to pay for the electrical connection?"

The cost of the electrical connection could be between P300,000 to P1-M depending on the distance of the RPC from the power lines.

Why in the world would anybody even consider constructing a modern rice mill for a farmers' group without even asking themselves whether the farmers are prepared to receive such a project?

Doesn't simple planning and management require that in introducing projects to farmer-beneficiaries, a study should be first conducted?

Was there sufficient social preparation and orientation
This story is all too common in the DA.

In the past, mechanical driers which were not even subjected to field testing were acquired by government and distributed to rice farmers.

Just like the RPCs, they are also gathering dust and eaten by rust.

Recently, I uncovered billions worth of farm machineries and equipment being kept in the different DA compounds all over the country which were also gathering dust.

They could not be released to the farmer beneficiaries because the poor farmers could not afford the 15% cash equity for the equipment some of which cost as much as P3-M.

This has already been remedied as I have directed the DA regional offices to stretch the payment period of the 15% cash equity to four years by installment.

Now, I don't know how to handle this RPC problem yet but I am sure there will always be a way to be able to resolve this.

As the old Tagalog saying goes:

"Kung gusto, maraming paraan. Kung ayaw, maraming dahilan."

One thing is certain though, this problem will never bother the DA again.

We will only deliver what the farmers need and when they need it.