|
Monday, April 24, 2006
Cebu Capitol plots Malapascua island’s ‘rescue’
By Jeanette P. Malinao
CEBU CITY -- Capitol is out to rescue the island in northern Cebu that has been hailed as the “Little Boracay.”
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said she will create a task force that will solely oversee the development of Malapascua.
She plans a wholistic approach for the island that will include marine protection and solid waste and water supply management.
The governor was dismayed by what she saw in the island during her visit last Friday.
Structures on the white sand beaches may have brought economic activities to Malapascua in Daanbantayan town, but development has also cost the seashore its natural beauty.
“This is not the Malapascua that I saw before. What happened to that beautiful stretch of sand? This is an ugly eyesore,” Garcia told stakeholders of the area’s tourism industry.
Faced with this reality, the Municipality of Daanbantayan is bent on implementing a 30-meter easement zone in the whole island. This means that most of the cottages of the 22 resorts along the beaches will have to go.
There are 48 resorts in the island.
Resort owners who are affected by the plan expressed disappointment.
Kurt Jensen told officials that they were acting in good faith. Before building their resorts, he said they went to the Municipal Government and asked about requirements.
“We met all the requirements. We’re not the bad guys here, we followed all the rules. I don’t question your laws, but no one told me about it,” said Jensen.
He showed officials a building permit from the Daanbantayan municipal engineer and a certification from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), documents he was made to believe were the only requirements.
But now, the Provincial Government will have a hand in the development of the island.
Garcia said she already told Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr. and Daanbantayan Mayor Ma. Luisa Loot about her plan. Both agreed.
The Provincial Government will work with Barangay Logon, which has jurisdiction over Malapascua, for the required documents such as supporting ordinances in implementing the development plans.
Garcia had visited Malapascua several times in the past, when she was still Capitol consultant on systems, promotion and development. She worked with the technical working group that had National Government agencies and local government officials as members in coming up with the eco-tourism development plan for Malapascua.
“I would cringe at the thought of trying to sell Malapascua to the many expatriates and local tourists that I speak to in the course of my day-to-day activities because the sight now in my mind is this ugly stretch,” she said.
Part of the beachline is no longer as impressive as it used to be. Residents disclosed that the sand was used for the construction of more resorts in the interior portion.
The governor also lambasted the indiscriminate throwing of garbage in the beaches, where she saw littered bottles of mineral water and plastics from junk food.
“You cannot say someone else threw them, because visitors to the island will not ask whose trash are those, they will just see the dirty ugly stretch...I must tell you I am saddened by what I saw,” Garcia told resort owners and officials of the barangay as well as that of the municipality.
She called on resort operators to cooperate with the government in implementing the development plan, saying that unless everyone works together, there can be no future for Malapascua.
“Let’s not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. I speak to you now because I was here during the time when this (beach) was still beautiful,” she said.
The island was declared a timberland during the Marcos years and as such, must not be subject to private ownership. The Water Code also states that forestlands must have an easement zone, which must be free of any structures, something that Mayor Loot wants to implement now.
Most of the resorts were put up when the island was still under the care of the DENR. But last year, the DENR ceded authority over the management of the island to the Municipal Government.
A resort owner lamented that they have been doing business in the island for 12 years now, and pointed out that many families are relying on them for livelihood.
“When we start destroying the buildings because it is the law, it will bring bad image to the island because there will be no more resorts to go to,” she said.
But Provincial Board Member Jose Ma. Gastardo told her that “more tourists will ultimately go to Malapascua if the easement zone is implemented, because this would mean the beauty of the beachline will be preserved.
Loot is giving the resort owners time to demolish their structures on their own. Refusing to do so would not do them any good, she warned, because she can still refuse to renew their business permits when these expire and then order for demolition. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(April 24, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
