With Bohol’s center of development shifting towards Panglao, the municipality’s acting mayor said that he is in favor of building a seaport in the town which will mainly cater to fastcrafts.
According to acting Panglao Mayor Pedro Fuertes, not having to go to Tagbilaran City for sea travel would be ideal for tourists particularly as completion of the town’s international airport draws near.
The initiative is eyed for private funding which he said will be a “welcome development.”
However, Fuertes said that there were still no investors who expressed intent to carry out the seaport project.
The mayor also noted that if the project materializes, proper procedures should be followed in implementing it.
In 2015, a proposal to build a jetty port in Barangay Tangnan fell apart after several town officials blocked the plan as its main proponents faced controversy.
Earlier, the Ocean Fast Ferries, Inc., through operations manager Gene Lastimado said that the firm was in the initial stages of planning the construction of its own seaport in Baclayon as part of preparations for the opening of the new airport.
The project was designed to cut travel time for airline passengers who have connecting travels on board a fastcraft, rerouting them away from the congested streets of Tagbilaran City and straight to the private port, he said.
According to Lastimado, construction of the pier has been initially set to commence in 2018 as the company has started to coordinate with the Philippine Ports Authority and to secure required documents for the construction of the multi-million-peso project.
It will be built near the Tagbilaran-Baclayon boundary across the Englewood Hospital, Lastimado said assuring that there will be no need for reclamation as it will be a floating facility. (AD)