Ramos okays $1.06b scheme for Moslem-populated areas<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Fidel Ramos yesterday said
\nthe government had approved a 30.9-billion-peso (US$1.06 billion)
\nprogram to speed up development in Moslem-populated regions in
\nthe south.<\/p>\n
The program includes investment in infrastructure, social
\nservices, agriculture and education including the construction of
\n37 major roads, two bridges and eight ports.<\/p>\n
Funding for the program will come from both state funds and
\nofficial development assistance, a government statement said.<\/p>\n
The program was approved in preparation for a meeting of
\nprospective donors to a development fund for 14 Moslem-populated
\nprovinces that are grouped in the Southern Philippine Council for
\nPeace and Development (SPCPD), to open on August 8 in the
\nsouthern city of General Santos.<\/p>\n
The Philippines' traditional aid sources as well as Middle
\nEast financial institutions are taking part in the meeting, which
\nwill be presided over by the World Bank and co-sponsored by the
\nUN Development Program.<\/p>\n
The government hopes to get about 400 million dollars in aid
\npledges at the meeting, organizers said.<\/p>\n
The SPCPD was created last year as part of a peace agreement
\nbetween the government and the main Moslem insurgent group, the
\nMoro National Liberation Front (MNLF)<\/p>\n
The southern Philippines, which the country's Moslem minority
\nconsider their ancestral homeland, has been wracked by decades of
\nfighting between Moslem separatists and government forces.<\/p>\n
The government has been seeking to pool funds from various
\nsources to finance development of the war-ravaged area.<\/p>\n
However peace negotiations are still going on with an MNLF
\nbreakaway group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)<\/p>",
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