P27 million aid for Cebu seaweed farms

SEAWEED farmers in north Cebu will receive P27 million worth of financial assistance from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to rehabilitate seaweed and aquatic farms destroyed by supertyphoon Yolanda.

Ramil Abing, the governor’s chief of staff, said Gov. Hilario Davide III will soon sign a memorandum of agreement with BFAR national director Asis Perez for the project.

“This has yet to be presented to the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) but once it gets approval, we’ll proceed with the signing,” said Abing yesterday.
The coastal farms are the source of livelihood of fish farmers.

The aid will help alleviate poverty in coastal areas, said the draft agreement.

Provincial Agriculturist Roldan Saragena yesterday welcomed the financial aid which will boost his ongoing agricultural rehabilitation program.
The affected aquatic farms were in Medellin, San Remigio, Daanbantayan towns and Lipayran island in Bantayan town.

“This will be of great help especially to our seaweed farms in Bantayan island that were wiped out by big waves during Yolanda,” he said. The farms were located in shallow waters.

Based on a damage assessment report of the Provincial Agriculturists Office, the province’s fisheries sector sustained more than P46.7 million worth of damage.

The amount includes fish cages, fish pens, milkfish pens, mangroves, fishing gear, corals, artificial reefs and motorized boats owned by local fishermen.

Under the draft MOA, BFAR will implement the project with the province.

This includes evaluation and procurement of materials, supervision of the operations and monitoring the project’s progress.

The Capitol will give a 20-percent counterpart to cover administrative operations and other incidental expenses.

A committee will lead the project implementation composed of the governor, the BFAR regional director, the provincial agriculturist, provincial fisheries officer and municipal mayors. /Peter L. Romanillos, Correspondent