The NEDA Negros Island Region (NIR) transition team, led by concurrent regional director Arecio Casing Jr. and team leader, chief economic development specialist Marlon Jinon, started meeting with local chief executives and key officials of NIR.
On March 6, the team met with officials from the cities of Bacolod, Talisay, Silay, Victorias, and Cadiz, and is scheduled to meet with other LCEs in Negros Occidental today.
The initiative aims to strengthen partnerships with local government units in achieving regional development goals, the NEDA-NIR said in a statement.
During the discussion, the LCEs outlined their priority programs and projects (PAPs) that address local issues on infrastructure development, transportation systems, and livelihood support, among others.
These PAPs may require endorsement from the soon-to-be-established NIR Regional Development Council (RDC), underscoring the collaborative effort to align local priorities with regional goals.
Coordination meetings with the LCEs and select stakeholders of the provinces of Negros Oriental and Siquijor is scheduled on March 24 to 28.
On March 5, directors of various regional line agencies gathered at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City for the first coordination meeting on the organization of the RDC-NIR, convened by the National Economic and Development Authority.
Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the gathering can be considered both “pioneering and historic” as a crucial step in organizing the RDC, the region’s highest planning and policy-making body.
“The fact that we are gathered here is proof of our commitment to ensuring that the creation of the NIR is not only a milestone on paper but a transformation that will uplift our island and the lives of our people,” he said in a Philippine News Agency report.
Lacson said the organization of the RDC-NIR, expected to take place after the May 12 national and local elections, is “an essential step to ensure that governance in NIR will be efficient, responsive and truly attuned to the needs of our communities.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law Republic Act 12000, or the NIR Act in June last year, creating a new administrative region comprising the provinces of Negros Occidental, including the highly-urbanized Bacolod City, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor. ||
