KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato Province (PIA) -- City Mayor Atty. Jose Paolo Evangelista targets to install more solar lights, particularly in residential areas, in his first 100 days as the new local chief executive.

The installation of solar lights by the city government already started in April this year.

“This is to safeguard the security of residents and combat crimes, particularly during a power interruption,” Evangelista said.

The city government allocated 15 units of 200-watt solar light to each barangay in the city. The project has a P4 million fund taken from the city government's 20 percent economic development fund for the years 2020 to 2022.

Recently, the City Engineering Office (CEO) installed the solar lights at Apo Sandawa Homes Phase 3 in Barangay Poblacion. This week, the installation will be extended to Phase 1 of the said residential area.

At present, the CEO, together with the Task Force Kahayag, already installed over 500 solar lights in different barangays of the city.

Evangelista is optimistic that the reprogrammed fund will become beneficial to more residents through the implementation of different projects.

Meanwhile, aside from the street lighting, another focus of the city government is the road concreting project. Evangelista said he plans to provide a 100-meter concrete road in each barangay during his term in addition to the farm-to-market road project for farmers. (With reports from CMO-CIO)