The local government here has embarked on a massive coastal preservation program that will implement environmental projects in the capital city’s waterfront areas through the formation of the Coastal Management Board (CMB), an official said on Tuesday.

Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, who also heads the Waterfront Development Commission in this city, said the initiative will also ensure to strike a balance between environmental preservation and conservation in the coastal villages, and the socio-economic development of these communities.

He cited the environmental officers of some coastal barangays who attended the launching of the CMB on Tuesday and shared their thoughts on different initiatives to solve the garbage woes along the coastlines.

“It is only through the holistic approach that we can achieve a lasting solution and a prosperous future,” Garcia said, as he rallied for support from village officials on environmental and socio-economic projects in the coastal areas.

Garcia said the initiative is designed to “uplift social development in our coastal communities.”

The city has 12 coastal barangays –Mabolo, Tejero, Tinago, San Roque, and Ermita in the north and Pasil, Suba, Sawang Calero, Duljo-Fatima, Mambaling, Basak San Nicolas and Inayawan in the south.

In August last year, Mayor Michael Rama announced the revival of the CMB in line with his plan to build medium-rise buildings as residential hubs for the poor residents living in coastal barangays.

Rama appointed Garcia to lead the board so that he can see for himself the situation in the coastal areas and plot local legislative measures for the protection of their constituents who are living in the “danger zones”. (PNA)