The congressman for the Lone District of Aklan, Teodorico T. Haresco, Jr., working closely with Aklan Governor Florencio T. Miraflores, launched the 1st Aklan Regional Consultative Conference on Development, held in Kalibo, Aklan recently.
The Conference defined projects and programs, implemented with the cooperation of various government agencies that fast track the development of Aklan Province. “This is entirely my intention to spur continued development in Aklan, to focus on four key things: Health, Infrastructure, Job creation in Tourism, and Education,” said Cong. Haresco.
Haresco is prioritizing the development of infrastructure that would lead to the increase of tourists to Aklan. “Among these are the development and improvement of the Aklan West Road, dovetailing with the upgrading of the Kalibo International Airport and the completion of the airport in Caticlan”.
“Improving the East-West roads will shorten the travel time of local, domestic, and international visitors traveling from the Kalibo International Airport to Boracay Island. This is crucial as Boracay Island is being considered venue by the organizers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit to be held sometime in 2015”, Haresco added.
“We are not only targeting the 2015 APEC Summit; more importantly is to provide the vital infrastructure for Aklan’s target tourist arrivals in three years from 1.2 million to 3 million tourists”, Haresco explained. According to him, these projects will economically stimulate on many levels. The construction of the infrastructure creates jobs and helps attract investments of large companies to different areas in Aklan. “Already, this has attracted investments from the Captains of Industry like Fred Yao, Lucio Tan, Roberto Ongpin, and Ramon Ang,” added Haresco. “Large international hotel chains like the Mandarin and Mariott Hotels are targeting to build 10,000 rooms over the next three years.”
The conference included the ceremonial launching of Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) assisted projects that will provide much-needed water systems in two municipalities. A Php20 million is allocated for the construction and expansion of the water system in Tangalan, and Php4.3 million was for the construction of a water system in Nabas. The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation launched the Php14 million fund for 4,189 crop insurance beneficiaries of Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) in Aklan.
Since the Local Governments are the recipients of the various programs and projects, the following Mayors were invited to attend the event: Mayor Labindao – Buruanga, Mayor Fuentes – Tangalan, Mayor Refol – Altavas, Mayor Teodoro Calizo– Balete, Mayor Lourdes Miraflores – Ibajay, Mayor Ramos – Batan, Mayor Fernandez – Lezo, Mayor Yap – Malay, Mayor Igoy – Malinao, Mayor Solanoy – Nabas, Mayor Templonuevo – Numancia, and Mayor Gubatina – Madalag.
Aklan Vice Governor Billie Calizo-Quimpo was also present. /MP
No comments:
Post a Comment