Jagna port closure threatens livelihood of ordinary folks

oJAGNA – If the P54-million port renovation project pushes through on Thursday, the ordinary folks who make a living from the port operation will suffer most. The port operation will adversely affect the livelihood of kalamay vendors, porters, canvassers, small business people, those connected with the transportation industry and therefore the town's economy. In his memorandum dated July 13, PPA General Manager Oscar Sevilla said there is a need to upgrade and improve the port of Jagna by constructing additional facilities through the implementation of the proposed port improvement project.

To ensure the timely completion of the project, Sevilla issued a temporary closure order. He gave three areas of concern which the closure intended to address. Firstly, Sevilla pointed to the “limited area of the port wherein operation and project construction could not move nor operate simultaneously.” Secondly, the PPA general manager said the existing pier has been identified to be “unsafe as evidenced by the damages sustained from port operations”. Finally, he pointed to the “unnecessary risk of damage” to “the project's scope of work, vessels and injury or even death to the passengers and the public at large”.

Sevilla ordered all vessels plying the port of Jagna to use the ports of Tagbilaran and Ubay as temporary ports of call pending completion of the project. The closure however is being challenged by town officials and those who will be directly affected. “We are still hoping that we can convince PPA to order only a partial closure,” said Mayor Exuperio Lloren. The mayor said the full closure will definitely affect the livelihood of those who are dependent on its operation.

Jagna Calamay Makers and Vendors Association president Martial Bermoy said the closure means a lot to the poor people in the industry. He said that they earn an average of P4,000 a month selling the popular pasalubong three times a week. “Tanan mao ray gisaligan (Everybody depends on it completely),” he stressed. Roberto Rañoa, treasurer of the Jagna Porters Multi-Purpose Cooperative said porters earn about the same amount. Asked how they will be able to earn a living if the port operation is stopped, Rañoa replied swiftly: “Mao nay pangutana (That's the question)”.

Councilor Senen Lloren rues that the PPA does not seem interested in the plight of the poor who will be affected despite the many appeals sent to it. “They have not given us even the courtesy of a formal reply,” he noted.

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