[ Manila Bulletin Online ] August 16, 2008
By MALOU M. MOZO and MARS W. MOSQUEDA JR.
CEBU CITY — The Department of Tourism (DoT) yesterday announced it has identified strategic development areas (SDAs) as priority destinations to propel the growth for the country’s tourism industry.
These ODAs include the Sogod-Bantayan-Malapascua corridor in Cebu; Northern Palawan corridor; Panglao Island in Bohol; and the Boracay- Katiklan corridor, said Tourism Secretary Ace Durano.
Durano, who met with Cebu reporters yesterday, said the DoT is now aggressively advocating for concerned government agencies to speed up the necessary infrastructure projects in these SDAs so it can be fully marketed as a tourism destination.
Citing the Sogod-Bantayan-Malapascua corridor, he raised the need for an airport facility in the mainland that will strategically service these municipalities as well as the need to improve road, water and solid waste management systems.
The same environmental concerns should also be addressed in Bohol.
Durano stressed that vis a vis the tourism stakeholders’ intensified efforts to promote the specific areas in the Philippines as leisure destinations, government must immediately solve the problem on infrastructure in order to drive the industry’s maximum potentials.
Infrastructure, he emphasized, should be dealt with first as projects of this massive scale will take a long time, probably at least two to three years before its completion.
"What we are pushing in NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) is to complete the infrastructure developments in these SDAs," Durano said, indicating the need for the agency to fast track budget allotment for a "complete infrastructure package".
"For example, you put up an airport but once it opens, you realize there is a problem on power supply, water consumption, and poor access roads," he said.
Already, Durano said the Japan International Cooperating Agency (JICA) has completed the technical studies for the Northern Palawan SDA.
