TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Jan. 9 (PIA) - - Six of the proposed major infrastructure projects will soon start this year, Governor Manuel N. Mamba said.

In the Tipon-Tipan sa PIA episode on Tuesday, he presented to the local media practitioners that three of the five proposed major bridges that will cross the Cagayan River will be started this year to include the Camalaniugan-Aparri bridge, Amulung East-Amulung West bridge and the Tuguegarao-Solana bridge.

A major road network connecting the western towns of the province will also be started including the acquisition of lot for the international airport that will be situated in the southwestern part of the province, and the construction of the Aparri seaport.

"We have many other projects to undertake including our programs for the agriculture sector, social services, education, and others. These major infrastructure facilities are long term projects but at least we will start them this year," Mamba said.

On the revival of the Aparri port, Mamba said it will play a major role towards driving economic progress in the province taking into consideration the wide market of the Cagayan farmers of their produce.

"The developed countries in the north are big potential markets of our produce. What we need to do is to improve our accessibility, our seaport in Aparri town which will serve as the gateway to the northeast Asian countries like China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hongkong," Mamba said.

He also said that dredging of the Cagayan River will push through to improve the river flow, to allow conducive trade docking area and to protect farmers' plants from destruction during rainy season due to flooding.

The governor also said a P5.2 million quarry fee from the dredge materials was already paid to the provincial government in which 40 percent will be given to the barangays where the dredging activity were conducted, 30 percent to the town of Aparri and 30 percent to the provincial government. (MDCT/OTB/PIA 2-Cagayan)