Capitol to iron out property issues for Bantayan airport

The Capitol will try to iron out property issues in Bantayan Island as part of its plans to build and operate an airport there.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said a 33-hectare lot  was already identified as a feasible airstrip but has ownership problems.

She said she wrote the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIAA) board to inform them of her administration’s airport plans.

Aside from Bantayan, the Capitol plans to build another airport in Camotes Island.

Both islands in far north Cebu are being promoted as tourist destinations.

Moves  to establish feeder airports in Bantayan and Camotes Islands in far north Cebu were first undertaken during the term of Gov. Emilio “Lito” Osmeña in the late 1980s.

Garcia met yesterday with MCIAA general manager Nigel Paul Villarete to discuss her  plans.

The Provincial Engineering Office showed the plans to Villarete since the MCIAA takes charge of all airport facilities in Cebu province.

The governor said a previously identified area in Bantayan Island wasn’t deemed feasible as an airstrip by the engineering office.

Garcia said they hope to  start building  the Camotes island airport on the first quarter of 2012.

Garcia said they need the Camotes airport to accommodate the increase in tourists visiting the island.

Provincial Engr. Eulogio Pelayre also cited the  increasing number of  resorts there.

“When you talk about airports, the movement is fast, not only in goods but also the people and the circulation of economic activities in the area,” he said.

Pelayre said they want to build an airport similar to that in Boracay Island.  /Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus