CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu provincial government has announced the bidding of a P20-million project involving the construction of public restrooms in areas frequently visited by local and foreign tourists throughout the province.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia revealed plans for said project during last Friday’s 21st Tourism Congress where she was the keynote speaker, stressing that Capitol will continue to support tourism-related programs and activities in the province.

“Tourism is all-encompassing,” said Garcia. “As an industry, it transcends the artificial barriers by which we use to compartmentalize our basic concerns—infrastructure, the environment, health and sanitation, peace and order, international relationships, cultural heritage preservation, employment and people empowerment,” Garcia told delegates to the Congress, which is one of the main activities highlighting the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry-spearheaded Cebu Business Month.

In her speech, the Cebu governor also reiterated Capitol's willingness to donate tourist buses to towns that can come up with viable and interesting tour package.

Garcia said the Cebu provincial government is asking contractors to submit their bids for P22.11 million worth of public restrooms for the province’s north and south areas.

Her invitation includes the plan to build P11.33 million worth of public restrooms in the south and P10.778 million worth of similar facilities to be built in the north.

The lack of clean public restrooms in most towns is one observation raised by tourism industry players and this pressing concern has been brought up in some of the provincial government’s "Suroy-Suroy Sugbo" domestic Cebu tourism promotion caravans.