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Monday, March 17, 2003
Malapascua Island folk won’t be evicted
By BY JEANETTE P. MALINAO
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
JITTERY at first over their fate, some 200 residents of Malapascua Island broke into applause after government authorities assured them that the zoning contained in the proposed development plan does not mean they will be forced out of their homes.
The public hearing threshed out concerns of residents on the development plan’s effect on their livelihood and water supply.
Residents also used last Saturday’s forum to complain to Daanbantayan Mayor Ma. Luisa Loot about a newly completed swimming pool, which Loot immediately ordered closed before she sailed back to the mainland that afternoon.
The people’s primary concern on the development plan is the proposed salvage zone 20 meters from the beach, on which no structure should be built, and the three-hectare tourism zone that follows.
The residents feared that with the establishment of the zones, they will be asked to move their houses within the multi-purpose zone located right in the middle of the island.
To them, this will mean uprooting their families to live far from their source of livelihood—the sea.
Rights respected
But a representative from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board and the planning and development officers of the town and the Province assured them their houses will not be affected.
The provincial technical working group that drafted the plan inspected the whole island and made sure that their output will “respect” the rights of the fisherfolk who have been living near the sea.
Residents will also not be driven away from the tourism zone, as it is only meant as a guide on what future structures or businesses can be allowed, they added.
After the Daanbantayan Municipal Council adopts the plan, town legislators will ask Congress to reclassify Malapascua Island from forestland to alienable and disposable.
The officials, however, are bent on establishing docking areas for commercial and fishing boats so these won’t be scattered everywhere on the island.
If boats continue to dock everywhere, the development planners said, coral reefs would be destroyed, and the ropes and spillage from tanks would pose hazards to swimmers.
Noise banned
The mayor is also firm on banning motor vehicles in the island so Malapascua will have only the “noise and pollution-free” modes of transportation.
Loot warned residents against buying motorcycles and assured existing operators of habal-habal, who expressed concern for their income, that they will soon be called to a meeting to discuss their business’ transfer to the mainland.
A representative from the Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water also raised the issue on the proposed 18-hectare pocket forest that “won’t be enough” to provide sustainable water for the island.
But Assistant Director Isabelo Montejo of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 7 assured that aside from the forest, trees from the rest of the island will be sufficient to meet the forest requirement of 40 percent of the total area.
Within the month, Daanbantayan Councilor Rex Novabos will also start meeting with landowners whose properties will be affected by the proposed circumferential road.
The landowners will be requested to donate their lots so work on the road network can immediately start. |
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