IN THE bid to raise awareness among Negrenses on the importance of bamboo, the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental conducted the first Provincial Bamboo Fair at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central’s Activity Center in Bacolod City Monday, September 26.
It also underscores the potentials of bamboo and to encourage local producers and key industry players in the province to explore the opportunities that bamboo can offer.
The Provincial Government of Negros Occidental envisions that through the initiatives on the revitalization of the bamboo industry, it can establish an inclusive, sustainable, and productive bamboo industry capable of making bamboo products available to all Negrenses.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, Board Member Rita Gatuslao, Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, Architect Mary Joy Amar, focal person of the First Bamboo Fair, members of the Special Project Team, and Provincial Cooperative Development Coordinator Dr. Edmund Chris Acosido, attended the launching activity.
Lacson said he hopes that it will be the start of serious efforts in promoting the planting of bamboo, and will remind everyone that without serious and committed intervention, the decline of the state of environment, including that of water security will continue to persist and inevitably worsen.
Department of Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. also gave a video message in support of the project.
The activity was also attended by Capitol employees, and partners and job orders from Sitio Tambara/Pulakpulakan in Barangay San Fernando, Talisay City who did the bamboo masterpieces showcased at the fair.
The activity is also in support of the Proclamation No. 1401 Series of 2022, declaring the month of September of each year as the Philippine Bamboo Month.
The week-long activity is themed, “Industriyang Kawayan, Para sa Paglago ng Ekonomiya at Kalikasan,” (PR)