Japan assists digital mapping project in Mindanao
GMANews.TV - Sunday, December 19SendIM StoryPrint.Japan is playing a key role in creating a digital map of Mindanao to help facilitate social services and development projects in Southern Philippines. The Japanese Embassy said the map will bring a much-needed update to the government's existing map, which was made in the 1950s. "The maps will be utilized in various occasions, such as road planning, disaster prevention, environmental management, social services and other development activities, and thus will finally contribute to the economic growth in Mindanao ," it said in an article posted on its website. Earlier, Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura and President Benigno Aquino III witnessed the signing of a program agreement for the Philippines ' new development plan for Mindanao in Malacañang. Participating agencies in the development program included the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Under the project, NAMRIA will produce a new, digital topographic map of entire Mindanao . "Since the currently-used map was made in the 1950s, it was an urgent task for NAMRIA to update it," the Japanese Embassy said. Under the technical assistance project of JICA, amounting to 1.3 billion (P690 million), NAMRIA is creating the topographic base maps on a scale of 1:50,000. Japan has actively contributed to the peace process and development in the conflict-affected areas in Mindanao and the surrounding areas in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. In December 2006, Japan launched the Japan Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD) to let people and the communities in the target areas to enjoy the “dividends of peace" through the Japanese ODA on the basis of “Human Security" principles. The Topographic Mapping Project for Peace and Development in also categorized as one of the J-BIRD projects. — TJD, GMANews.TV
