Salt makers in Antique province are among this year’s identified recipients of the shared service facilities (SSFs) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to enhance their production.

“Four local government units (LGUs) in the province have already manifested interest to avail of the SSF for salt production,” said DTI Antique provincial director Lynna Joy Cardinal in an interview Friday.

She identified the LGUs as Belison, Patnongon, Laua-an and Bugasong.

The components of the SSF include a furnace, evaporation vat, cooling trough, settling tank, hose, and water pump.

She said that DTI is proposing the open pan method as enhancement since most of the salt makers in Antique are still into traditional solar salt-making where the extracted seawater is dried under the sun.

With the open pan method, the seawater is cooked in a furnace under a shed house so salt production continues even when it rains.

“The LGU, as a project co-operator, will have for its counterpart the provision of a processing center, capitalization, and labor,” Cardinal said.

A budget of PHP4 million has been allotted for the SSF through the initiative of Senate Pro-Tempore Loren Legarda who would like to help salt makers in the province.

“Senator Legarda is really the one who looked for the budget for the SSF,” Cardinal said.

Provincial Board Member Rony Molina sponsored a resolution during their regular session in February this year, where he highlighted the potential of the province to produce salt if given assistance by concerned national government agencies.

He said the province could help augment the supply of the product in the market if only salt makers are trained on new production innovations and provided with the necessary equipment.

Antique produced around 11.6 metric tons of salt during the first semester of 2022, data from the Office of Provincial Agriculture showed. (PNA)