PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – The town of Dumaran, located in the northern part of Palawan, is being eyed as a prime tourist destination after the provincial government announced plans to develop a 1.5-hectare salt farm in the island barangay of Bohol.
Provincial Planning and Development Officer (PPDO) Ninfa Rubio said that the project to develop the salt farm has been under the provincial government’s Banwa Project since 2017 with the approval of funding assistance to the members of the Bohol Salt Makers Association.
The funds would be used for the repair and maintenance of filter boxes and construction of more salt beds.
She said that some of the equipment was already provided by Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
She said that Barangay Bohol project was just one of the plans of the provincial government to develop other towns for their unique attraction or product.
“Nagbigay ang munisipyo ng area na mga one hectare para sa warehouse, processing at ang dinownload ng DOST ay ang mga equipment. Plano rin natin na pagandahin para dayuhin ang salt farm. ‘Yon naman talaga sana ang aim natin sa Dumaran na maging tourist attraction. Very passive lang kasi ang Dumaran, at least mayron tayong tinitingnan in the future na ganyan ang mangyayari sa Dumaran,” Rubio said.
“Sabi kasi ni governor (Jose Chaves Alvarez) ano ang gagawin sa mga lugar na ganyan kasi kung sa ibang lugar may mga unique na attraction, nandoon ‘yan sa island Dumaran,” she added.
Rubio said that the residents were also traditional salt makers.
According to her, Dumaran was tapped as one of the pilot areas of the project because there were also other towns that have expressed interest in the project, such as Cuyo.
“Dati na rin silang gumagawa ng salt pero hindi sila organize, inayos sila ng provincial government. Medyo dying livelihood kasi ang mga anak nila ay ayaw ng ganyan. ‘Yan ang pinakapilot area natin kasi ang other islands like cuyo ay interesado din sila kasi mapuputi din daw ang asin nila,” she said.
Dumaran Municipal Planning and Development Officer (MPDO) Officer Agnes Padul also said that the salt production project was a grant from the Community-Based Monitoring System- United Nations Development Program (CBMS-UNDP) intended for the Expansion of existing farm.
Currently, the local government of Dumaran is monitoring its progress.
She said the primary responsibility of the beneficiaries of the project was to supply the demand requirement in the municipality, as well as nearby localities.
“The project design was designed as a traditional method of salt making which is already familiar to the recipients. This project is a secondary livelihood endeavor of the beneficiaries to increase their income. The project implementation was undertaken by the local government unit (LGU), that includes the provision of materials for the salt production, monitoring, organizational strengthening, and marketing linkage,” Padul said.
She said that the project has a filter box equipped with salt bed dryer at a capacity of one cubic meter solution and estimated to produce two sacks of salt or equivalent to 100 kilograms for every three-day cycle of production for every salt bed.
There were also two salt beds for every beneficiary or recipient.
She said that the project operation will extend for five months every year from January to May as cropping season. The production per salt bed per season is 80 sacks or 4,000 kilograms, with estimated sales of P24,000 prior, or a total of P480,000 for 20 salt beds.
The PGP is the one responsible for the marketing of the produced salt of the association, she said.
There were 40 members of the Bohol Salt Makers Association in 2008, and an additional 14 members in 2017 according to Padul.
In addition, Rubio said that the residents could also apply in the adopt-a-mangrove program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to protect the mangrove.
‘’Yong white sand na pinapasukan ng tubig ay doon sila gumagawa, pwede sila as an organization na magapply sa DENR ng adopt a mangrove program kaya mapo-protect nila ang mangrove,” Rubio said.