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Tawi-Tawi gets P4.8-M seaweed buying station project

By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.

October 19, 2021, 1:15 pm

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Agrarian Reform in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MAFAR-BARMM) is constructing a seaweed buying station in Sapa-Sapa, Tawi-Tawi, to boost the livelihood of seaweed farmers in the area.

The buying station project, worth PHP4.8 million, is located in Barangay Butun, Sapa-Sapa, a third-class town in Tawi-Tawi, which consists of 23 barangays with a population of 33,580 as of the 2020 census.

Aidarus Nami, MAFAR Tawi-Tawi provincial director, said Tuesday that the project covers the construction of a warehouse building and procurement of other equipment needed to operate the buying station.

“The project is aimed at boosting economic gains of the seaweeds farmers of Sapa-Sapa and the nearby municipalities,” Nami said.

For the same price, seaweed farmers can now sell their products at the much nearer Sapa-sapa buying station instead of traveling to Bongao, the province's business center.

He stressed that the project, once completed, will encourage seaweed producers to increase production and boost their income.

He noted that the province of Tawi-Tawi is the top producer of seaweed in BARMM and one of the country’s top producers of seaweed.

He said Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed that about 34.54 percent of the total aquaculture production during the fourth quarter of 2020 in BARMM was composed of seaweeds.

He said that the province of Tawi-Tawi recorded the highest production of aquaculture in the region during the fourth quarter of 2020.

Tawi-Tawi contributed 42.08 percent of the total regional production and followed by Sulu with a 33.09 percent share.

Meanwhile, Shameera Macaraeg, Sapa-Sapa municipal administrator, expressed the municipal government’s gratitude to the BARMM for the implementation of the project in the municipality.

“The project will surely benefit the constituents of Sapa-Sapa municipality in many ways,” Macaraeg said. (PNA)

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