A TOURIST Rest Area (TRA) will soon rise in the town of Pinamungajan as the Cebu Provincial Government fulfilled its promise and held a groundbreaking activity for the facility on Sunday, March 17, 2024.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia led the groundbreaking ceremony for the 1,333.2-square-meter facility called “Tourist Service Center and Rest Area” in Barangay Pandacan.
The facility is located beside the municipal fire station, a report from the Capitol's Public Information Office (PIO) stated on Monday, March 18.
The Capitol-funded TRA is patterned from the brainchild program of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco that was built across the country.
Frasco's TRAs is a flagship program that serves as a rest stop for tourists, travelers, and visitors who may want to use restrooms, freshen up, drink coffee, and rest. It will also be an avenue for local products and delicacies to be displayed for local and international tourists to purchase.
The Department of Tourism (DOT), in coordination with the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) and the local government units (LGUs), has launched four TRAs in the province.
These four TRAs are in Carcar City, Moalboal, Carmen and Medellin.
The TRA in Pinamungajan, once built, will be the fifth of the eight facilities to be launched in the province.
Garcia, during the launching of the DOT's TRA in Cebu, promised to construct four Capitol-funded facilities. The TRA in Pinamungajan has been allocated with at least P5.6 million.
The facility was envisioned to provide a stopover for foreign and domestic tourists to rest and use a clean restroom after a long trip to the province's tourist destinations.
Three other Capitol-funded TRA will be located soon in Bogo City in the north, and the towns of Dumanjug and Santander in the south.
Cebu Province’s TRA will have an area of at least 1,500 square meters, incorporating a tourism information center, lounge area, coffee shops, charging station, restrooms, and shower rooms, a souvenir center, and a parking space.
Present in the ceremony and laying of the time capsule on Sunday, March 17, were Cebu Third District Representative Pablo John Garcia and Pinamungajan Mayor Ana Jesica Baricuatro.
Ten TRAs across the country were launched last year. These are located in Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon; Samal Island in Davao del Norte; the towns of Carcar, Carmen, and Moalboal in Cebu; Dauis in Bohol; Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte; Roxas in Palawan; and Baguio City.
DOT and Tieza, in partnership with various LGUs, are slated to add 15 more TRAs in the country.
The DOT's investment arm, Tieza, will fund and construct the facility and each TRA has a P7 million allocation.
The operations and maintenance of the TRAs are transferred to the LGUs after the launch. (EHP)