Malapascua Island circumferential road underway

CEBU, Philippines - Preparatory works for the five-kilometer circumferential road in Barangay Logon, Daanbantayan is now underway.

Engineer Bobby Lim of the Provincial Engineering Office said concreting of the road will start anytime soon with Socor Construction Corporation as the winning bidder for the project.

The road project which cost P3.9 million is a component of the revised Malapascua Island Eco-Tourism Development Plan (MIEDP), which has been stalled for years. The revised plan was signed by Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III last year.

The Provincial Information Office reported that the Capitol has set aside P5 million for the MIEDP.

 The local officials in Daanbantayan have been pushing for the implementation of the development plan to develop Malapascua Island into a world class tourist destination. Malapascua Island is known for its diving spots.

 The original MIEDP was crafted during the time of former governor Pablo Garcia in 2002 which includes the construction of the barangay port or wharf, circumferential road, police headquarters and police outpost in the island.

Last May, the Capitol authorized the municipality of Daanbantayan to implement the construction of a multi-purpose building in Malapascua Island amounting to P1.5 million.

The multi-purpose building will house the island’s police outpost, health center and tourist assistance office, among others.

 In August 2003, Daanbantayan and the Capitol, together with some government agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Tourism, entered into an agreement with the municipality being the lead agency in the management, administration and implementation of MIEDP.

But the agreement was amended in 2006 which assigned the management, administration and implementation of the plan to the Province of Cebu because the municipality had limited manpower, resources and capabilities to perform the tasks required.

However in 2012, the town council passed a resolution requesting Capitol and other concerned go-vernment agencies to reassign the task of being the lead agency in the management, administration, and implementation of the MIEDP to the municipality.  (FREEMAN)