TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, December 1 (PIA) –Catigbian towns wants a final word on the possibility of rehabilitating its earthquake-ravaged premier adventure tourism park.
Catigbian Mayor Virgilio Lurot and tourism officer Ardissa Estavilla told members of the local media that with the scarce funds available and the need to priorities on the town’s development agenda, they would need to know if there is still hope for Dagook Adventure Tourism Experience (DATE) park.
A wholesome family adventure park, DATE Park is located in over 20 hectares of local government unit-owned land traversed by a creek which is highlighted by Dagook Falls.
Made a themed Green Recreational Eco-Adventure Tour (GREAT) for families, the park boasts of a canopy walk, a monkey bridge, a mountain slide zipline and trekking trails that is designed to keep families bonded tighter after a day’s experience.
Constructed via a loan which the town obtained, plus local government’s internal revenue allotment and convergence of funds, DATE park soon grossed a meager income that allowed local leaders to spread the tourism benefits into social infrastructure investments.
But before the town could totally relish on the park’s income, a strong earthquake hit Bohol and seriously affected the physical integrity of the park.
According to Estavilla, the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has conducted a post-earthquake Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Survey on the park and it showed unsettling information.
As to what kind of unsettling information, the tourism officer however was not specific, other than stating the Monkey Bridge sagged because a portion of the cliff it was anchored fell into the river below.
She also said the mountains slide cables stretched taut as the launching hut where the zipline cables were anchored was ruined by the earthquake, making its use dangerous.
With a little fund available, town leaders need to know about the viability of funding the rehabilitation of the park over other much needed priorities.
She said, the town has formally requested the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Compete Project to send out a technical assessment team for a thorough assessment of the park, so they would know what to do next. (RAC/PIABohol)
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