Proposed Joint Session of Malay Town Council and Aklan Provincial Council, yet to be dated

It is important for Municipal Planning Officer and Zoning Officer Alma Beliherdo that the Town Council of Malay will discuss with the Aklan Provincial Council regarding the state and lacking documents in order to pursue the planned Comprehensive Land Use Plan / CLUP in Boracay.

According to Beliherdo it seems that the Provincial Council has yet to relay to the Town Council what has been agreed upon at the Provincial Land Use Committee, causing the Council of Malay to appear somewhat blinded on what is the real status of the CLUP which has been hanging for four years and cannot be completed because of some unanswered issues.

Nonetheless Beliherdo had already presented to the town council the latest discussion they had in the PLUC.

The Aklan Provincial Council had previously asked the Town Council of Malay for a joint session in Boracay in order to clarify the issues on the CLUP as the Department of Tourism wants it hasten.

However according to SB Member Rowen Aguirre, they haven’t scheduled a certain date for the session yet, and he is hoping that this will be pursued on the following month.

Investigation on Incidents on Sea Sporting Activities Called for

Incidents related to different sea sport activities in Boracay are deemed necessary to be investigated by the Chief Executive of Malay.

This is because such incidents are already disturbing according to Council Member Rowen Aguirre.

Aguirre emphasized the necessity in an interview after the reported successive cases of accidents registered from the month of July to August in Boracay.

Included were drowning and incidents resulted to the death of some foreign tourists while activities were held at sea.

According to Aguirre, an ordinance is being implemented in the island on the operations of helmet diving, parasailing, and others. He said, according to the ordinance, if it is proven that an establishment was negligent, aside from Civil Damages the establishment is accountable to the victim, the Local Government of Malay has the right to suspend the operation of the establishment.

He added that it would be beneficial at present to investigate the incidents and inspect all the equipments to find out whether the equipments still comply with safety standards since the life of an individual rests on them.

Aguirre asserted that it was necessary for the Chief Executive to already do what was necessary regarding the issue.

Number of Dengue cases in Aklan, still on the rise

The statistics of the Provincial Health Office of Aklan shows a continuous increasing trend in the number of recorded dengue cases.

This is according to Aklan Provincial Health Officer II, Dr. Victor Santa Maria.

He however said that they are expecting that this statistic will go down on the last week of September as compared to their observation in 2011.

Dr. Santa Maria said that the months of August and September are the most critical period of this disease, and as it is the rainy season, there had been an increase of dengue cases.

In line with this, Santa Maria reminds the public especially the barangays to maintain not only the cleanliness of the surroundings but to get rid of the potential breeding places of mosquitoes.

Meanwhile he also revealed that based on the weekly monitoring they have conducted from January until this August there have been more than 200% increase in the number of dengue victims in the province as compared to the same time in 2011.

Nonetheless he said that in spite the surge of dengue cases this year, he clarified that the Provincial Hospital of Aklan did not encounter a problem such as the overcrowding of patients.

BASS Helped in the Search for DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo at Masbate; Provincial Council of Aklan in Mourning for the Death of the DILG Secretary

The Provincial Council of Aklan joined in mourning for the death of Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo.

In the regular session of the Provincial Council on Wednesday morning, it was proposed that a resolution be passed showing their sympathy to the family of Secretary Robredo.

Aside from this, Provincial Council Member Raymar Rebaldo asked that a similar resolution be passed for the family of Captain Jessup Bahinting, the main pilot of the Piper Seneca plane that Robredo rode from Cebu going to Naga City.

According to Rebaldo, Bahinting helped the province of Aklan when typhoon Frank hit the province. He added that Bahinting was also a pilot of the government in bringing assistance to the province during that time.

Meanwhile, it was learned from Boracay Association of Diving Schools (BASS) President Cerilo Tirol that with the request of Mayor John Yap, 10 members of the Association from different diving schools volunteered and went to Masbate to represent the town of Malay and Boracay Island to help in the search for the DILG Secretary on Monday at 1 in the afternoon.

Ordinance on CCTVs in Boracay, time to be modified

It is time to modify the ordinance regarding Close Circuit Television/CCTV Camera on selected establishments in Boracay.

This is what SB Member Rowen Aguirre said during an interview.

He said that the island have an ordinance for this, but only selected establishments like banks and pawnshops are required to have CCTVs.

This is the reason why they wanted this to be changed in order for other establishments to have their own CCTV cameras to protect their business.

Although he acknowledged the fact that this will be costly for the owners, he said this will be of a great help in apprehending bad entities and resolving crimes.

He also admitted that even the local government of Malay plans to set up CCTV cameras in strategic areas in the island especially at the front beach.

Nonetheless the LGU has no fund for this at the moment, but they already had communicated with technical people for installation and supplies.

Recently there have been a number of theft and snatching and even chasing incidents with the suspects who unfortunately had gotten away.

However, when the CCTV of some establishments was checked it was not clear and the incident hasn’t really been caught by the camera.