BORONGAN CITY, Jan. 24 (PIA) -- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Eastern Samar District Engineer, Manolo A. Rojas said that the alternate road Maydolong-Basey road will resume the construction in February 2020.

In a press conference on January 16, 2020, at DPWH-ESDEO conference room, Borongan City, Rojas talked about resuming the road works of the remaining 13 kilometers access road to reach the boundary of Basey, Samar, with the budget from the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of P75-M.

The construction/improvement of the access road (including bridge, slope protection, and drainage) leads to the declared tourist destination of Borongan-Llorente Closed Canopy Forest Area located at Barangays San Gabriel, Tagasli-an, and Del Pilar of Maydolong, Eastern Samar.

The construction was stopped because of environmental issues in which the said road is declared as a tourist destination area traversing the Samar Island Natural Park (SINP).

The DPWH-ESDEO sought an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the said construction at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB). After satisfying the requirements of the said application, the EMB has decided to grant an ECC for the above-mentioned project.

Also, the DPWH-ESDEO submitted and endorsed a resolution for prior clearance to continue the construction of Maydolong Basey road to Samar Island Natural Park - Protected Area Management Board (SINP-PAMB) - Executive Committee (ExeCom).

The SINP-PAMB-Exe-Com approved the resolution provided that the DPWH-ESDEO will pay the DENR the total forest charges of P47.2-M to the approximate 2.60 kilometers stretch road project, in which there are about 1,738 trees that will be affected.

The DPWH-ESDEO paid a partial payment of P50,000.00 as user's fee for the issuance of the permit. The balance shall be added to the annual user's fee for the next two years.

The P47.2-M forest charge is for the replacement of cut trees, to be used for planting and re-planting of trees.

In addition, the project needs to secure a Special Land Use Permit. The DPWH-ESDEO applied also to DENR for the land use permit and will pay P12-M for this.

According to Arturo Apura of DPWH, the said road is re-routed to a logging road area to escape the virgin forest area.

"The said road is one of the high impact projects of DPWH-ESDEO because once completed, it will be the shortest route from Borongan to Tacloban City by almost two hours travel from the usual four via Crossing-Quinapondan-Lawaan-Basey road," Engr. Apura said.

Engr. Maria Daisy Madeja, District Head - Monitoring said that the Maydolong-Basey Alternative Road is classified now as tourism road.

"The road project will make tourism vibrant in the area as travelers will be fascinated by the breathtaking attraction of the virgin Samar forest," Madeja said.

Engr. Madeja added that the project will also provide convenient, faster, and safer transport, this will also improve the economic activities of the nearby municipalities and progress of the two provinces.

Eng. Christian Paul Balita of Monitoring Division said that on the part of Samar Engineering District, the construction of this road is on-going also.

He said that the distance from Borongan to Tacloban via Maydolong is 123 kms., while the distance from Borongan to Tacloban via Crossing-Quinapondan-Lawaan is 190 kms. or a difference of 67 kms.

Ms. Evelyn Cruz, an entrepreneur who frequents Tacloban City said that this construction of the new road is a great help to travelers because it will cut travel time.

The DPWH-ESDEO will continue to implement projects that will boost the economy of the hard-to-reach areas of Eastern Samar and will help promote tourism in the entire province. (nbq/SDC/PIA-E. Samar)