Construction of plant starts
FINALLY, AFTER 5-MONTH DELAY
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Korean government-funded Seafood Processing Plant in Dagupan was finally held last May 20 after a 5-month delay paving the way for its construction.
Korean Ambassador Choi Joong Kyung, whose government is giving a $2.2 million (about P100 million) grant for the project, and 4th District Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., who worked out the grant, attended the rites.
Residents of Sitio Russia in Barangay Bonuan Binloc staged a silent protest by displaying streamers held by children of affected families while the program was going on.
Dagupan Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., nonetheless, said the event was not marred by the signs of protest to the project in the premises.
The city mayor expressed confidence that the construction of the Seafood Processing Plant will be finished in 10 months with its inauguration slated possibly during next year’s Dagupan Bangus Festival.
National Fisheries Research Institute Executive Director Dr. Westly Rosario said the seafood processing plant will revolutionize the current back yard type of fish processing widely used in the province.
He said with the plant, not only vacuum-packed, deboned, marinated and smoked bangus and tilapia will be produced but also other food products never before introduced in the market.
The fish processing plant, which will be under the ownership of the Dagupan City government, will be co-managed by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources per a memorandum of agreement signed last year by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Dagupan Mayor Fernandez and the head of the KOICA in the Philippines.
When fully operational after 10 months, the plant will initially open jobs for 250 workers as deboners and laborers, mostly coming from the host community.
The project, with its modern facilities for deboning, vacuum-packing, blast freezing and storage, will process and put added value to local aquamarine products to be channeled to the local and international markets.
Also in attendance during the groundbreaking were Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) representative Kim Win and his staff from Manila as well as Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez and City Manager Alvin Fernandez.
Choi said the project comes at a time when the Philippine and Korean governments are intensifying their partnership in the development of Philippine agriculture.
He said the seafood processing plant is expected to boost the agricultural productivity in the province so that they can have access to the international market.
The project, he stressed, is a gesture of the deep appreciation of his people for what the Filipinos had done during the Korean War when 112 Filipino soldiers sacrificed their lives so that the Korean people would enjoy freedom and democracy.
“We do not forget this,” Choi said, eliciting thunderous applause from his audience.
In his speech, De Venecia thanked the Korean government and people for their generosity, highlighting that the fund is not a loan but a grant or gift.
City Administrator Fernandez said in order to make the plant viable, it will process not only bangus but also shrimp, tilapia and catfish which are also widely grown in ponds, pens and cages in Dagupan City and other parts of Pangasinan.
Protesting squatters
Barangay chairman Ronald Torio brushed aside the protesters who he said were a very small minority of the informal settlers of sitio Russia who remain adamant about staying in the area.
City Legal Officer George Mejia said the project will be constructed on schedule notwithstanding the resistance of a negligible few among the informal settlers of Sitio Russia.
He said the city government has already granted all the demands of the informal settlers for their relocation to the 65 row houses especially built for them at the Gawad Kalinga-Bangusville II.
Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., suspects that behind the continued resistance are prominent informal settlers in the area which include a lawyer, a judge, a restaurant owner and a town mayor;
Fernandez assured the plant to be finished after 10 months.
After the 65 Sitio Russia settlers shall have moved out, the Dagupan City government expects to have a stronger case in evicting all other informal settlers in the government-owned properties in the area.–LM
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