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Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Daanbantayan's wharves
By Aledel A. Gonzales
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
NOW that the municipality of Daanbantayan has made Malapascua, Logon Island a destination, the town is now picking up pace to the country’s tourism program.
The local government is addressing the demand for a better transport system for what is regarded as Cebu’s answer to Boracay.
To get to Malapascua, one has to ride a motorized banca in Barangay Maya, about 8.6 kms. from the town proper. But the Maya wharf needs improvement so that at low tide, passengers won’t have to ride a dinghy (flat-bottomed banca) towards a pump boat that would take them to the island.
During high tide, a makeshift ladder is slid off the wharf and unto the pump boat. But for Daanbantayan Mayor Ma. Luisa Loot, there should still be a better way to do this.
“The current wharf is not only pitiable, it also does not provide comfort to our visitors,” she said.
The wharf does not cater only to passengers bound for Logon Island. It is also a transit point for merchants carrying fish and other produce to Cebu City from Masbate and Leyte.
In an interview with Sun.Star, Loot said a wharf for roll-on-roll-off vessels will be built in Maya. But it would be in Sitio Damba to allow shorter travel.
She said she got the idea from a well-developed jetty in Caticlan in Aklan, a jump-off point to Boracay island.
The project will cost about P15 million. Gov. Pablo Garcia has reportedly assured funds for the project.
“Who would have thought that Malapascua would be what it is today? This never happened before. There’s nothing like it here in Cebu,” she told Sun.Star.
Loot said a feasibility study would be finished by July and construction could be scheduled to start at the end of the year.
The wharf in Maya is not the only project in Loot’s list of priorities.
A P3-million fish landing is built near the town’s public market. It will give bigger berthing space to vessels carrying livestock and other items to Daanbantayan.
Although the facility prioritizes fishing vessels, pump boats to Logon Island will be allowed to dock.
But while the administration is looking forward to the operation of the wharves in Maya and the town proper, one wharf is left unattended.
The wharf in Tapilon, a barangay next to Maya, has been turned into a dumpsite after being damaged by typhoons.
A large portion of the roughly 100-meter wharf has collapsed, posing danger to people
who might want to drop by the area.
Loot said there are no plans to revive the structure. It may have to be torn down since it no longer serves its purpose.
(July 1, 2003 issue)
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