Undersecretary Rosalina Bistoyong of the Department of Agrarian Reform said yesterday that the World Bank wants to start the proposed project of the Tara Agrarian Reform Cooperative (TARA) of Himamaylan, Negros Occidental, under the Project Growth of the government.

Bistoyong said this was discussed at the exit conference of World Bank officials in the country recently.

The World Bank will lend $10 billion for the 50 clusters of the program in the whole country that includes the TARA, and Project Growth will be fully implemented next year, she said.

Bistoyong said the WB officials were impressed by the proposals and presentations of the farmers of their projects last month when they made an ocular mission in the area. She said the leaders of the TARA cooperative agreed with the terms and conditions set and also agreed on the 70-30 sharing in the financing of the projects.

She said they are finalizing the list of the qualified clusters and refining reports for the Department of Budget. An assessment during the final stage will determine the capability of the cluster to put up the counterpart fund, she added.*MNM

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