DIPOLOG CITY, June 15 (PIA) – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-9, through the Provincial Science and Technology Office – Zamboanga del Norte (PSTO-ZDN) turned-over and inaugurated the Multi-Commodity Solar-Tunnel Dryer (MCSTD) and Hybrid Salt Making Facility recently at Bayangan Island, Labason town, this province.
PSTO-ZDN Director Nuhman M. Aljani led the activity, together with Lina Magsalay, president of the Bayangan Women Vendors Association (BWVA), beneficiary of the project.
BVWA is an association of tenured migrants in Bayangan, which, together with Baliudjong, composed the Murcielagos Island Protected Landscape and Seascape (MIPLS).
MIPLS is among the protected areas in Zamboanga del Norte declared under RA 10038, otherwise known as the “Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018”.
The facility will enable the BWVA to boost its economic enterprise, specifically fish drying and salt making. The project, with a total cost amounting to P750,304.00, is part of DOST’s package of assistance provided to the community through DOST’s Grants-In-Aid (GIA) program.
The DOST’s local Grant-In-Aid (GIA) program aims to harness the country’s scientific and technological capabilities to spur and attain sustainable economic growth and development.
City Environment & Natural Resources Officer (CENRO) Michael Delacruz of CENRO-Liloy; Mr. Excelsis Cadungog of the local government unit of Labason; Barangay Chairperson Arnold Villano; and other personnel of CENRO-Liloy and members of the association, were also present to witness the event. (NBE/EDT/PIA9-Zamboanga del Norte/with reports from DOST Regional Officer IX)
