Rosales is still “investors’ haven”
ROSALES –Keep the faith.
This was the appeal echoed by local officials led by 6th District Rep. Conrado Estrella III assuring investors that the town remains a haven for their investments despite the unprecedented flooding on October 9, which practically put Rosales under water.
“We assure them that we have learned our lessons and we are acting on them,” Estrella said.
Estrella and other local officials held a dialogue on October 20, Tuesday attended by officials and representatives of the Agno Flood Control Office, the San Roque Power Corporation, SM Prime Holdings, and other investors.
“We want to be on the upswing again, especially so that the expressway will be here by 2011,” Estrella said.
SM Prime, which operates the SM chain of malls, opened its branch here last year, the first in the province.
The SM Rosales branch was almost completely submerged by the flood prompted by Typhoon Pepeng and aggravated by the release of water from the nearby San Roque Dam.
Estrella pointed out that Rosales was never flooded in the past because the San Roque Dam was holding and controlling water.
He said the dam “has been an ally to us” and blamed the people who directed the release of the water for the catastrophe that hit the town.
He assured SM management that the problem is not the San Roque Dam but the National Power Corporation (Napocor) that dictates water releases.
He said there was miscalculation on the part of Napocor about the water release. “They gambled and they lost,” he said.
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Estrella has proposed the creation of an advisory council for dam water releases to ensure that there will be no repeat of the flooding in the future.
The council will include representatives from the Agno Flood Control, National Irrigation Office, Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, and the San Roque Power Corporation.
“It’s an advisory body to carefully study all aspects prior to water dam release,” he said.
Estrella also assured investors that everything is being done to repair the damaged parts of the Agno River dikes to prevent water intrusion in case of another typhoon.
SM RE-OPENING
Meanwhile, a 24/7 rehabilitation work is being undertaken in SM City Rosales to prepare for its scheduled re-opening on November 26.
Gani Chavez, SM Prime Holdings Assistant Vice President for Northern Luzon who attended the meeting, said they are appreciative of how the congressman and Rosales Mayor Ricardo Revita handled the situation.
“Very, very hands on. Immediately they wanted to regain back the confidence of the investors,” Chavez said.
SM City Rosales has 110 business tenants and employs about 5,000 employees.
Estrella also cited Goldilocks, one of the country’s leading food stores, for immediately resuming work in its ongoing construction of its commissary here.
“Goldilocks will put up a commissary here in Rosales, employing 300 to 400, to service Northern Luzon,” Estrella said.
Prior to the flooding, Rosales has been wooing not only private investors but government agencies to put up their offices here, including the Office of the Ombudsman, Technical Education Skills Development Authority, Department of Labor and Employment and allied offices, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Education, among others.
In a related development, Engr. Philip Meñez, officer-in-charge of the Agno Flood Control Office also assured investors that restoration works are now being done to fill the gaps in the breached dikes.
“We are rushing it because we are expecting more typhoons and the dikes must be ready to allay the people’s fears,” he said. #
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