CEBU CITY, Philippines – The town of Santa Fe in Bantayan will have a new port that may finally solve environmental concerns there.
The Capitol announced it will lead the construction of the new port for Santa Fe, which will begin soon.
This after the Cebu Port Authority (CPA), during a meeting with Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and officials from the local government of Santa Fe, approved the province’s bid for the construction of the new port.
The Capitol’s request to takeover the management and day-to-day operations of the Port of Santa Fe was also granted, according to a report from Sugbo News, the media arm of the provincial government.
Garcia on Monday, November 13 held a meeting with CPA and Santa Fe officials address the problematic rock causeway of the existing port.
The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro), in a report submitted to the governor, found out that the presence of the causeway led to the uneven distribution of Santa Fe’s precious white sand beaches.
The structure was blamed why sand and water could not flow freely in the area, ultimately disrupting the distribution of sand.
In turn, officials agreed to build a new structure that “will be an entirely on-pile structure that will allow the unhampered flow of sand and water.
“We will be building an entirely new structure adjacent to the new one and then demolish the existing structure because the existing one is rock causeway,” Engr. Romel Pegarom, acting chief of the Engineering Services of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA), was quoted on saying.
The new upcoming port’s length is estimated at 350 meters, and will have the three existing docking ports will will not undergo demolition since they are standing on piles, Sugbo News added.
Santa Fe Mayor Ithamar Espinosa welcomed the decision to build a new port in their town.
“I hope nga ma-push through na gyud ni kay naa naman mi share, kay karon wala man mi share sa CPA,” he said.
Santa Fe is a fifth-class municipality that formed part of the Bantayan group of islands, located approximately 120 kilometers northwest of Cebu City.
The town also served as the main entry and jump-off point to and from Bantayan Island.
/bmjo
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