By CESAR JOLITO III

The Regional Development Council in the Negros Island Region (RDC-NIR) is pushing to balance infrastructure investment across the newly reestablished region, with Negros Oriental officials expressing hopes that more major projects will be allocated to their province beginning next year.

RDC-NIR chairperson and Negros Oriental Governor Manuel Sagarbarria said during the council’s 4th Quarter Full Meeting in Bacolod City that most large-scale projects currently underway in the region are concentrated in Negros Occidental.

Sagarbarria confirmed that 30 of the region’s top infrastructure projects are located in Negros Occidental, including two flagship undertakings: the Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) Bridge and the Negros Occidental Economic Highway.

RDC Infrastructure Development Committee chair Edward Du reported progress on the major projects, noting that the Negros Occidental Economic Highway is 58.88 percent complete, while the detailed engineering design for the PGN Bridge is 96.22 percent finished.

Sagarbarria added that Negros Occidental also holds the bulk of the budget for hospital upgrades, infrastructure improvements and farm-to-market road development — a distribution he acknowledged as “understandable” given that the province is the largest among the three in the region.

In the same meeting, Negros Oriental 3rd District Representative Janice Degamo presented a proposal for a District Safety Surveillance Program, aimed at strengthening public safety through an integrated network of closed circuit television (CCTV) units.

The plan includes the installation of high-definition, weatherproof, night-vision CCTV units in strategic locations, alongside the creation of a centralized command center to monitor real-time video feeds.

The RDC-NIR endorsed Degamo’s proposal to the national government for funding.

Sagarbarria said the council will continue working to ensure “more equitable development” across the region as NIR shifts into full operationalization next year./CJ, WDJ