Solar dryers benefit Tawi-Tawi growers

Bongao, Tawi-Tawi — The Department of Trade and Industry of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DTI-ARMM) has provided solar dryers on stilts to organize seaweed producer groups in at least nine island-municipalities in the province of Tawi-Tawi.

DTI-ARMM officer-in-charge Provincial Director Nazrullah G. Masahud said each organized seaweed group had been allotted some P388.210 for solar dryers, which include a stockroom and production materials.

The solar dryer measures 60 feet by 40 feet, while the stockroom is 18 feet by 18 feet, according to Masahud. that the project is part of the P8.59 billion allotted by President Aquino under the Transition Investment Support Plan (TISP) – a roadmap of good governance, and reforms in the provinces and cities within the ARMM.

While admitting that there are many seaweed growers in the province, only one established and organized group per island-municipality was initially targeted.

“The project is a grant, and the beneficiaries are bound by a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA),” Masahud said.

The nine beneficiaries of the solar dryers on stilts are the towns of Sitangkai, Sibutu, Bongao, Sapa-Sapa, Tandubas, Languyan, South Ubian, Simunul, and Panglima Sugala.

The province of Tawi-Tawi has 11 island-municipalities.

For his part, monitoring officer Raja Lakandula Aming stressed that “the TISP closely monitors the project implementation in all phases in collaboration with other non-government and people’s organizations in the area.”

Meanwhile, the ceremonial turnover of the solar dryers was held at a local hotel here recently, and was led by DTI-ARMM Secretary Sangkula Tindick, and witnessed by personnel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and representatives from various people’s organizations.   (Nonoy E. Lacson, Manila Bulletin/July 29, 2013)