The municipality of Dumaran is planning to develop a 1.5-hectare salt farm in the island barangay of Bohol as a tourist attraction.
Provincial Planning and Development Officer (PPDO) Ninfa Rubio told Palawan News that the plan is under the Banua Project of the provincial government since 2017.
It has been provided extended capital assistance through the members of the Bohol Salt Makers Association (BSMA) for the repair and maintenance of the filter boxes and construction of additional salt beds.
She said that some of the equipment was provided by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Rubio added that it is one of the plan of the provincial government to develop other municipalities for their unique attraction or product.
“Nagbigay ang munisipyo ng area na mga one hectare para sa warehouse, processing at ang dinownload ng DOST [d’yan] 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 mayroon tayong tinitingnan in the future na ganyan ang mangyayari sa Dumaran,” Rubio said.
Photo by PPDO“Sabi kasi ni Gob. [Jose 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 are also the traditional saltmakers.
According to her, Dumaran is one of the pilot areas of the project because there are also other towns that expressed interest in the project such as Cuyo.
“Dati na rin silang gumagawa ng salt pero hindi sila organized, inayos sila ng provincial government. Medyo dying livelihood kasi ang mga anak nila ay ayaw ng ganyan. ‘Yan ang pinaka-pilot 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 told Palawan News that the salt production project is 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 it.
She said that the primary responsibility of the beneficiaries of the project is to supply the demand requirement in the municipality as well as other neighboring towns.
“The project design follows the 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 LGU that includes the provision of materials for the salt production, monitoring, organizational strengthening, and marketing linkage,” Padul said.
Photo by PPDOShe 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 are also two salt beds for every beneficiary or recipient.
She said that the project operation will extend five months every year from January to May as cropping season. This period of production per salt bed per season is 80 sacks or 4,000 kilograms and an estimated sale of P24,000.00 prior to the market prevailing price of P6 per kilogram or a total of P480,000 for 20 salt beds.
The provincial government is the one responsible for the marketing of the produced salt of the association, she said.
There were 40 members of the BSMA in 2008 and an additional 14 members in 2017, according to Padul.
In addition, Rubio said that the residents could also apply to 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.
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