Camotes airport rehabilitation pushed

CEBU, Philippines – To further push Camotes Island as an iconic destination of Cebu, fifth district representative Ramon "Red" Durano IV recently passed House Bill 2668 also known as "an act providing for the rehabilitation, improvement and modernization of the Camotes Airport in the town of San Francisco, Cebu."

Through the bill, Durano pushes for the rehabilitation of the Camotes airport, for it to accommodate big aircrafts, under the supervision of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

"It is the thrust of the present administration to alleviate poverty. One of the means to contribute to this thrust is to spread development in island communities. Being archi-pelagic, investment in public works, specifically in the establishment and construction of transport facilities in island towns in our country would greatly spur development of economies and other livelihood opportunities. Construction of RoRo ports and establishment of airports are very encouraging endeavors in uplifting our rural communities," Durano said.

Although Camotes has its own attraction, which prompted the Department of Tourism (DOT-7) to declare Camotes as an Iconic Island in Cebu, the lack of infrastructure in the isolated island has hampered the full development of the area.

"The economies of our four towns in Camotes also grow slowly, resulting to poverty and migration of its people to mainland Cebu and Leyte," Durano said.

However, with the establishment of RoRo ports in the towns of Poro and San Francisco, the island has slowly gaining ground in development its economy.

In the late 80s, in its effort to attract investments in Camotes, the Provincial Government of Cebu started the construction and development of the Camotes Airstrip in the Mu-nicipality of San Francisco.

However, the Airstrip has been left unattended for a long time, Durano said, thus the rehabilitation and improvement of the small airport needed to encourage more investors and tourists to come to Camotes.

The bill also seeks to have a feasibility and detailed engineering studies, site evaluation equipment, materials and services to be used directly for the project.

The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of the Act shall be charged to the appropriations of the DOTC under the General Appropriations Act.

According to Durano, if the bill will be passed into Law, the supervision and management of the Camotes Airport shall be temporarily placed under the Mactan Cebu Interna-tional Airport Authority "until such time that an independent management body can be created by the concerned local government units in Camotes, the Provincial Govern-ment of Cebu, and the DOTC.

Camotes Island, located northeast of Cebu, was chosen by the Department of Tourism (DoT) in Central Visayas as the "new iconic product" in the region as it boasts of a fresh water lake, white sand beaches, caves, among others.

As an iconic product, Camotes is among the priority destinations of the DoT that already benefited from the assistance of the tourism department. However, the issue on trans-portation accessibility is one of the main problems, why Camotes cannot take off as a major island destination of Cebu. (FREEMAN)