HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, YAP PRESENTS HIS AGRI AND TOURISM AGENDA

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, YAP PRESENTS HIS AGRI AND TOURISM AGENDA

“Every peso spent in Bohol for food, goes to our Bol-anon farmers,” Gov. Art Yap said of his dream for Bohol.

Wasting no time with fresh mandate given to him as the province’s father, Yap convened tourism and agriculture sectors this week to set directions he is pursuing to achieve his administration’s agenda of creating jobs and opportunities.

The former agriculture secretary and three-term congressman of the third district gathered agriculture commodity champions Friday afternoon.

Offering a new take on Bohol growth, Yap issued directives to determine Demand Per Capita for fruits, vegetables, fish, cacao, coffee, livestock, poultry, as well as to build commodity chains for each product.

Earlier this week, Yap brought to Bohol officials of the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food at an agriculture investment forum for large producers to meet potential partners in Bohol.

The Provincial Government, on the other hand, will work on building more bagsakan centers, enhancing support for planting materials, soil technology, financing, and insurance, as well as connecting producers to the market.

Knowing the demand, production figures, and import value for food being consumed, he said, will enable agriculture sector to determine its growth target, which goal is to increase food supply to bring down the price of food.

Yap’s administration also intends to maximize tourism potential of Bohol. In a meeting with the Management Executive Board, Yap’s marching order was to “Think, live, sleep tourism.”

He said agriculture and culture can be folded into tourism. On top of his strategies to meet agenda on tourism are transportation, waste management, power, and water. He also considers health care, disaster preparedness, and training and capacity building as priority.

He met with tourism and transport sector representatives on Friday to discuss concerns on transportation as well as accommodations.

“We will hammer away until all problems are resolved,” he assured tourism stakeholders.

He will be meeting with Tagbilaran City Mayor Baba Yap, Dauis Mayor Miriam Sumaylo, and Panglao Mayor Nila Montero to iron out issues about routes and operations in a follow up meeting with the transport group.

He is also seeking to reach a compromise with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) for standardization of wastewater treatment facilities in establishments in Bohol.

His administration is keen on investing on tourism promotions and applying a star-rating system for destinations.(edcom)

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