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Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Developer allots P10M for Sumilon
By Jeanette P. Malinao
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
By summer next year, old and new cottages as well as a restaurant will be open to tourists in Sumilon Island, said a resort owner and land developer.
Arcadio Alegrado, president and chairman of the Alenter Development Corp., announced this in a statement sent to Sun.Star.
Alenter is leasing the 24-hectare island from its overseer, the Oslob Municipal Government.
Alegrado said his company set aside in the middle of this year P10 million “to pursue the project, which was hibernating due to bureaucratic problem.”
He further disclosed that an administrative order from the environment department in 1999 prohibiting the development of islands below 500 hectares, which delayed the project, was already lifted last year.
“It was scrapped because it was hurting the tourism prospects of the country.
The development of Sumilon Island in Oslob as a resort of international standards, contrary to a published report, is on stream,” said Alegrado.
Earlier, Sun.Star reported that the Sumilon island development was hampered by a legal battle between Alenter and the island’s private claimants. The report was based on an interview with Provincial Board Member Antonio Almirante Jr., Alegrado’s lawyer, who said they have asked the court that the case be archived.
Almirante also disclosed that the other factor in the delay in the island’s development is its status, because it is not alienable and disposable.
Alegrado said they are now rehabilitating 10 duplex cottages and the restaurant building that they started in 1999.
Twelve nipa cottages are also being built especially for scuba divers in the northeastern portion of the island.
They also applied with the Coast Guard, which he said has been inviting citizens to adopt the rehabilitation of lighthouses.
“On the island is a beautiful and historical lighthouse which has long been abandoned. This will be made into an observation place and alternate restaurant and coffee shop,” added the developer.
The project is called the Sumilon Bluewater Island Resort. Its top management identified an area in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, which is 25 minutes by pump boat, as jump-off point to the island.
It will be nearer for guests if they choose to take the plane to Dumaguete City, according to the press statement, because Oslob is some two hours from Cebu City.
The two-hour ride to Oslob, however, is “scenic” and tourists could drop by several historical sites along the way. The jump-off point to the island from Oslob is Barangay Bancogon, which is only five minutes by pump boat to the island.
(November 3, 2004 issue)
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