Seafood processing plant to get business permit
HAS the battle for the control of the Seafood Processing Plant started?
This question was raised by city hall observers when the management of Seafood Processing Plant in Dagupan City was ordered by the head office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) last Friday to temporarily stop operations and to resume only after it obtains a business permit from the city government.
Dr. Westly Rosario, interim plant manager and chief of the National Integrated Fisheries Technology and Development Center, confirmed the receipt of the October 6 order issued by BFAR OIC Director Atty. Benjamin Tabios Jr.
He was informed that Atty. Demosthenes Escoto, legal officer of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is arriving in Dagupan on Monday to help formalize the requirements for a business permit.
Prior to his receipt of the order, Rosario said he never received a formal letter from the city hall advising him of the plant’s failure to secure a business permit.
BFAR is operating the newly-opened plant, which is owned by the city government, based on a memorandum of agreement it signed with the city government during the previous administration under Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr.
Incumbent Mayor Benjamin Lim, however, now wants the plant’s operations transferred to the city government.
Lim pointed out in an earlier press statement that the processing plant is operating without the requisite business permit and therefore the city government can close it.
The office of the city mayor has not given any indication if it will issue the business permit and what condition it will impose to allow it to operate.
Rosario said the plant is still under a test run and an application for the permit was planned once the plant finally goes on full operations.
Fourth District Rep. Gina de Venecia, as well as her husband, former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. who negotiated the financial grant from the Korean government for the construction of the plant, agreed on the need for a business permit.
At the same time, the De Venecia couple wants the operation and management of the processing plant to remain under the BFAR.
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