Bohol prioritizes to solve water woes in villages and manage marine resources

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

BOHOL Province – The twin problem of lack of water in remote villages and marine protection and management are Bohol’s priority agenda as these connect to tourism recovery of the province.

Bohol governor Arthur Yap visited Ubay town over the weekend, on July 3 to turn over some P100,000 fund assistance for the water project in each village/barangay in Ubay and he also inspected the Bohol Giant Clam Hatchery inside the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) facility in Barangay Sandingan.

Water has been the perennial problem in the barangays of Ubay and other towns in Bohol and the Barangay captains in Ubay thanked governor Yap for helping to end the perennial water woes of the villages. 

Barangay Lomangog Captain Felix Cutamora said that need for enough, reliable and sustainable supply of potable water is more pronounced in dry spell or hot season.  “The absence of clean and safe water and lack of water are also a widespread concern not only in the villages of Ubay but also outside of the town,” Cutamora added.

Cutamora said it was very encouraging having Yap to visit, talk and listen to the barangay captains about their other priority and essential concerns which captain Hermogenes Pacional of barangay Gov. Boyles also acknowledged as the governor’s genuine concern for the barrio folk. 

Buenavista barangay captain Procesa Genita on the other hand called Yap's hard work in himself handing the financial aid for their necessity. The assistance would be useful in saving their communities from the long state of lack of water, bared captains Rodrigo Cutamora of Sa Isidro and Jimmy Dabalos of Sinandigan.

 

Some provincial local officials such as Board Member Mimi Boniel-Maglasang, former Board Member Jaja Jumamoy, Ubay Kagawad Joan Abad and former Vice Mayor Nelso Uy, among others joined the governor in the turnover ceremony.

On the same day while in Barangay Sinandigan Yap inspected the Bohol Giant Clam Hatchery inside the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) facility noting that the province continuously strived for a more improved and sustained marine biodiversity conservation through the effective management of marine protected areas.

“This is in line with the goals of reducing poverty, ensuring food, and conserving and rehabilitating the marine ecosystem,” Yap cited the various programs of governor Edgar Chatto, now a congressman, who made environmental management a priority in governance.

Yap said he expanded the program with the support of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan led by Vice Gov. Rene Relampagos with the Bohol Giant Clam (tridacna gigas) Hatchery, the only kind in the country that is being funded and managed by a provincial government.

Bohol is the first and only provincial LGU to initiate marine ecosystem rehabilitation and biodiversity conservation through tridacna gigas restocking and breeding in contribution to food security, poverty reduction and marine eco-tourism, Yap revealed.

BFAR-7 said that currently, the hatchery has a total of 2,205 pieces of juvenile Tridacna gigas clams to be restocked in the marine protected areas in Bohol. (Photos: Google Images)