The Cebu Provincial Government has broken ground for its first Tourist Rest Area (TRA) in the midwestern town of Pinamungajan on Sunday, March 17.
Gov. Gwen Garcia, alongside third district Congressman Pablo John Garcia and Mayor Ana Jessica Baricuatro, led the groundbreaking and time capsule-laying ceremony to signal the start of construction for the facility patterned after the TRA program of Tourism Sec. Christina Garcia Frasco.
The Capitol shall spend at least P5.6 million for the tourism facility which will be built on a 1,332.2-square-meter area in Brgy. Pandacan just beside the fire station.
It will feature a tourist information center, lounge area, coffee shops, a charging station, clean restrooms and shower rooms, Pasalubong Centers, as well as ample parking space.
The other three Capitol-funded TRAs shall be built in Bogo City in the north, and the municipalities of Dumanjug and Santander in the south.
The Tourism Department has rolled out the TRA project in Cebu last year, building four of such facilities in Carcar City and Moalboal in the south and Carmen and Medellin in the north.
During the inauguration of the DOT-funded TRA in Medellin, Gov. Garcia promised her daughter, Sec. Frasco, that the Capitol shall match the DOT’s TRA allocation in Cebu, building as many TRAs as the agency shall build in Cebu.
Secretary Frasco envisions the TRA to provide much needed convenience and assistance to both foreign and local travelers in and around Cebu for a wholesome experience. | Babie Jane Revecoy