The Bangsamoro Airport Authority (BAA) under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) recently conducted a site inspection of the proposed airport runway in Brgy. Boahan, Lamitan City, a component city of Basilan, to get a perspective view of the area, the underlying issues of a defined strategic surface, and the associated parameters that go with it for future research and study to determine the amount of funds to materialize the project.
Present in the activity were MOTC Director General Atty. Roslaine L. Macao-Maniri, BAA OIC Director, Atty. Hanamir N. Emblawa, CPA, Sanga-Sanga Airport Manager Kaycy Lynn D. Paraiso, and Jolo Airport Manager Delson S. Ismael, along with MOTC Staff, were teamed up with the City Planning and Engineering Office of the City Government of Lamitan headed by Engr. Arnold Yap.
“Boahan is one of the areas identified by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) as the ideal site for the airport,” said Engineer Yap. The proposed stretch of the runway is 1.2 to 2.2 Km. The airport site is still under the ownership of private land title holders to this date. Portions in Calagusan, Balas, Boahan, and Ubit, also the proposed sites, were gradually acquired by the City Government of Lamitan through Honorable Mayor Roderick Furigay, who aimed for 100 hectares of the parcel of land for airport use.
Basilan had airstrips many years ago, maintained by multinational companies, and became unserviceable when they left Basilan, for the area was converted to rubber plantations under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of the government (CARP).