BSL wants processing plant
DAGUPAN Mayor Benjamin Lim has already tagged the $2.2 million fish processing plant donated by the Korean government a white elephant and has called for a management take over by the city government.
But the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), which has been tasked to handle the plant’s operations, asserts that the system still needs fine-tuning and should not be rushed unnecessarily.
Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the BFAR center in Dagupan, said the plant, the first of its kind in the country, is in the process of finalizing an operations manual as this will be the basis for immediate accreditation in the foreign market.
Rosario advised Lim to treat the fish processing plant like a tree by “giving it enough sunlight, nutrients and water so it will grow and bear much fruit at the right time”.
Lim, on the other hand, insists that the fish processing plant, his brainchild, is crucial to Dagupan’s aquaculture industry.
Speaking during the PATRIMA media forum last week, Lim pointed out that when he started the Bangus Festival when he first became mayor, it was intended as a marketing tool for the city’s most popular product, the bangus, and that the ultimate goal was for the city to operate its own seafood processing plant.
He bewailed the fact that the processing plant “is still not processing” and “remains a white elephant until today.”
The plant, completed last year and formally inaugurated on November 28, and the original plan was for the city government to manage the plant.
However, its management was transferred to BFAR by virtue of Sangguniang Panlungsod Resolution No. 6510-2010, which was passed after the May 10 polls.
The resolution cited that the city has no capability to manage the plant and BFAR was in a better position to operate it for the first five years, during which preparations will be made for the eventual turnover back to the local government.
Lim has assailed the passage of the resolution.
The mayor said he has asked the help of former 4th District Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. for the immediate transfer of the plant’s management to the city government.
De Venecia was crucial in seeking the funding for the project from the Korean government through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
Lim said his proposal is to revert the management of the city government and the city will in turn create a management group to operate the plant or to partner with the private sector that might be willing to invest more money in the plant’s venture.
PREPARATIONS
Meanwhile, Rosario said he met with two exporters recently to discuss the use of the plant and determining appropriate fees.
He added that BFAR is also currently organizing activities to attract users of the facility.
“We are putting up an international forum on processing that will help us market the processing plant,” Rosario said.
At the same time, he said plant workers, fish wholesalers and retailers including persons engaged in backyard businesses will be trained on international sanitation standards.
KOICA continues to support to BFAR by granting the latter’s requests for ore donations. The latest donation includes a refrigerated van and other operating equipment that are expected to arrive this week.
The plant can stock 20 tons of raw materials per day and more than 150 metric tons of processed fish.
Its quick-freezing facility can handle four tons per day at temperature of minus 40 degrees Centigrade.
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