Fate of seafood processing plant known this week
PRIVATIZATION EYED
THE fate of the idle P100-million Seafood Processing Plant in Dagupan, built through a grant from the Korean government, will finally be announced on March 1.
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Asis Perez will be in the city this week to formally announce a decision reached by his office how and when the processing plant which ceased operations Oct. 7 last year, will resume operations.
Meanwhile, former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., who sought the help of the Korean government to build the plant, said he recently wrote to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Perez, BFAR Regional Director Nestor Domenden, and Rosario suggesting a privatization scheme.
De Venecia said privatization through public bidding is the “winning solution” as neither the BFAR nor the Dagupan City government can legally engage in business.
Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the Dagupan-based National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) under BFAR, who was designated interim plant manager, refused to give a hint on what the decision might be when he spoke at the KBP forum on Thursday.
He, however, said that the announcement may touch on the proposed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between BFAR and the Dagupan City government, which owns the facility but affirmed that the Korean government is already seeking the resumption of the plant’s operation.
De Venecia’s proposal, Rosario said, may sit well with the proposed MOA since the latter provides for a co-management scheme for the facility between BFAR and the city government.
Co-management will mean the creation of a five-man management team that will pave the way for privatization.
The team will be composed of two representatives each from the BFAR and the city government, and one neutral personality.
In the meantime, Rosario reiterated his position that the plant should be allowed to resume operations immediately because the idle modern machineries are fast deteriorating.
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