Reymarr Hijara, chairman of the Coastline Management Board (CMB), told SunStar Cebu Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, that they are crafting a coastline management plan for the city’s 16 coastline barangay.
The CMB held its two-day strategic planning session from Feb. 10 to 11, which was attended by various City Hall offices and other government agencies.
The CMB was first convened in 2004, but Hijara said the board went idle for many years and was only reconvened in December 2022.
During their strategic planning, different committees were formed to focus on key issues affecting the city’s coastal area.
Among the committees formed were the committees on community organizing and development, information and education, peace and order, training capabilities and livelihood, health and sanitation, waste management, drainage and sewerage, infrastructure and development.
The committees will then identify current problems concerning their sector and how the government can intervene to alleviate the issue.
Hijara said the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Labor and Employment had offered their assistance in providing livelihood training and programs to residents in coastal areas.
The National Economic and Development Authority also expressed its willingness to assist the CMB in developing a plan that will steer economic growth in the coastal areas, he added.
Under the health and sanitation aspect, Hijara said the CMB also included in its plan the installation of public toilets in coastal barangays to prevent people from defecating outdoors.
The issue of garbage collection was also discussed during the session, especially when it comes to proper coordination between barangays and the Department of Public Services when the former cannot collect waste because its garbage truck is broken, said Hijara.
The CMB is also mulling a stricter policy in proper waste disposal to discourage the public from throwing their garbage anywhere.
Hijara said the CMB will soon introduce programs in the community that will encourage garbage recycling.
Meanwhile, the City’s Bantay Dagat Commission (BDC) is also eyeing the procurement of a Rapid Response Unsinkable Boat (RRUB) to level up its patrolling duties in the seawaters off the city.
In a report from the Public Information Office on Saturday, Feb. 11, BDC executive director Alexander Soledad said the RRUB’s price is around P6 to P8 million.
Aside from its patrolling capabilities, the RRUB is also equipped with fire fighting equipment that can be used in maritime fire incidents.
Soledad said a private company has already expressed its intention to supply the RRUB to the City Government.