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Ambassador Kenney and Philippine Agriculture Secretary Yap Inaugurate USAID-funded Boat Landing and Fish Hatchery Facilities in Tawi-Tawi

U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney (right) and Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap (second, left) along with Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sahali (left) and Tawi-Tawi Nur Jaafar (second, right) cut the ribbon inaugurating Tawi-Tawi’s 30-meter Lato-Lato Boat Landing facility. The boat landing improves sea transport services by making it easier and safer to transport the local fish hatchery stocks contributing to increased economic opportunities for local residents
Ambassador Kenney and Governor Sahali (left) view photos of the 30-meter concrete boat landing, which serves the residents of Barangay Lato-Lato and neighboring barangays in the municipality of Bongao. The facility is one of the 42 Barangay Infrastructure Projects that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funded in Tawi-Tawi. It serves as transshipment point for the multi-species fish hatchery in Lato Lato as well as a convenient transport point of people and goods for Sitio Lomboy and neighboring villages.
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) Director Jobert Toledo (right) briefs (from left) Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCO) Chairman Virgilio Leyretana, Ambassador Kenney, Governor Sahali, and Philippine Agriculture Secretary Yap on the breeding cycle of abalone at the Tawi-Tawi Multi-Species Fish Hatchery in Lato Lato on March 31. The first commercial multi-species hatchery of its kind in the Philippines, and it will serve as a model for other similar facilities in Mindanao. The Ambassador witnessed the formal turn-over of the fish hatchery from the national government’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to the Provincial Government of Tawi-Tawi.
Ambassador Kenney and Secretary Yap are briefed on varieties of stocks being bred at the Mindanao State University Tawi-Tawi Abalone/R&D Training Center and Gene Bank, a partnership project that USAID helped set up. The training center looks for new ways to improve the yield of fish and provides ongoing training for the multi-species fish hatchery staff.
Constructed with assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the 30-meter long boat landing facility in Lato-Lato has attracted more boats resulting in lowered transport costs, additional transport vessels for residents and goods in the surrounding villages, increased market activities, and added revenues for the town and the province.
The Captain of the Military Support Vessel (MSV) C-Champion briefs Ambassador Kenney, Secretary Yap and other Tawi Tawi officials at the bridge. A commercial vessel used by the U.S. Military throughout the Pacific region, the vessel is primarily designed to transport personnel, equipment, and supplies to remote locations that can’t be reached by larger vessels.
Former combatants of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) greet Ambassador Kenney at the Tawi-Tawi Multi-Species Fish Hatchery in Lato Lato. Now entrepreneurs, the former combatants underwent training in the production of high-value land crops and aquaculture under USAID-assisted programs. When fully operational, the fish hatchery and related operations will add approximately P84 million annually to Tawi-Tawi’s economy and will dramatically improve the incomes of 1,000 former MNLF combatants who are the primary fish farmers.
The Military Support Vessel (MSV) C-Champion travels the waters between Tawi-Tawi’s islands. A commercial transport vessel used by the U.S. Military throughout the Pacific region, the MSV is equipped to embark smaller vessels that can reach locations that are extremely remote.

Last Update :: 04/04/2008

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