New public execs wants old Isabela City port improved
TOURISM • 11:45 AM Sun Jul 7, 2019
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By:
John M. Unson
The neglected Spanish-era Isabela City wharf at dusk.
ISABELA CITY --- The Sangguniang Panglunsod is seeking clearance to realign a P50 million budget for a new wharf project to the expansion of a landmark Spanish-era port to boost the local economy.
SP presiding officer Vice Mayor Kifli Salliman and his colleagues have drafted a resolution asking Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to allow the city government to spend the amount for the expansion of the old and historic Isabela City port instead.
Salliman was elected vice mayor last May 13, along with running mate, the now first-termer mayor Sitti Djalia Turabin Hataman.
They both promised to embark on initiatives meant to boost the investment climate of Isabela City during the campaign period.
Senior SP members told reporters Sunday they willingly supported the drafting of the resolution last week to complement the peace and development agenda of the new city administration.
The P50 million budget from the national coffer for the supposed construction of the Diki wharf has been earmarked for the project long before the recent election period.
Isabela City covers more than 40 barangays that are home to mixed Muslim and Christian residents.
In her first meeting last week with SP members, Turabin-Hataman urged councilors to help push her development initiatives for Isabela City forward.
The mayor told Salliman and other SP members she wants efficient information and environment-protection offices, security cameras in strategic spots in the city and more streetlights.
She said she will also involve Muslim and Christian religious leaders and traditional community elders in domestic peace-building activities.
Turabin-Hataman, spouse of Basilan Congressman Mujiv Hataman, also asked the SP to pass ordinances against smoking in public places and measures meant to protect the environment such as a ban on use of so-called “single use” plastics.
She said there is also a need to create an interfaith advisory council, comprised of Muslim and Christian religious leaders, that can help oversee her efforts to foster religious solidarity among Isabela City’s culturally-pluralistic communities.