MNLF says new bridge can boost economy of Datu Blah Sinsuat 

COTABATO CITY --- The Moro National Liberation Front was elated with the completion of the multi-million bridge over Matuber River that now connects its enclaves during the 1970s to Cotabato City.

The 75-meter bridge linking the 13 barangays in Datu Blah Sinsuat, Maguindanao to nearby Datu Odin Sinsuat town and to Cotabato City was opened to traffic on Saturday.

Labor Minister Romeo Sema of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Sunday the infrastructure will spur livelihood opportunities for residents of Datu Blah Sinsuat.

Sema is MNLF’s vice chairman for political affairs.

“The bridge, to a certain extent, can generate employment for the local communities. That is something we shall be happy about,” Sema said.

The bridge project was started two years ago by officials then of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and was, subsequently, continued by the Ministry of Public Works-BARMM.

Avila Abobakar, chief of the Maguindanao 1st District Engineering Office, said Sunday the project is a “pre-stressed concrete guirder bridge” made from some pre-fabricated parts.

He said the PSGB-style bridge now connecting both banks of the Matuber River is so far the longest in all 11 towns in the first district of the province.  

The bridge, which has a 7.32-meter width plus a 1.10-width pedestrian path by its sides, has a 36-ton load limit, according to Abobakar, a civil engineer.

“It will boost the socio-economic growth of the local communities it was constructed for. It will hasten the travel of beachgoers to the beaches in Datu Blah Sinsuat. It is, thus, good for the local economy,” Abobakar said.

The bridge now links the Muslim, Christian and ethnic Teduray residents in the seaside Datu Blah Sinsuat town to the commercial hubs in Datu Odin Sinsuat and in Cotabato City, which is the capital of BARMM.

Sema, whose office has programs benefiting the Bangsamoro region’s labor sector, attended Saturday’s inauguration of the Matuber Bridge.

It was built as a common “high-ticket” project of Abobakar, Datu Blah Sinsuat Mayor Marshall Sinsuat and Eduard Uy Guerra, who is BARMM’s public works minister.

The chairman of the MNLF’s largest and most politically-active bloc, former Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, was also present in the symbolic launching of the newly-constructed bridge.

The activity was led by BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim, the architect Guerra, who has ministerial control over the eight district engineering offices in BARMM and Regional Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo.

“We also ought to thank the Datu Blah Sinsuat local government unit for having done its role in constructing the Matuber Bridge,” said Sema, who, as labor minister, is also a member of the regional parliament.

There are residents of Datu Blah Sinsuat who are members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front whose chairman, Ebrahim, is overseeing the BARMM government as appointed chief minister. Ebrahim also presides over the 80-member BARMM parliament, also known as the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.

The MNLF and the MILF are cooperating in furthering the peace and development goals of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the charter of the Bangsamoro region.