Producers prefer BFAR as seafood plant manager
BANGUS producers who are already using or intend to use the seafood processing plant in Dagupan want the facility to remain under the management of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) or expand it into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.
In a meeting held at the BFAR office last Tuesday, the producers and exporters said they are happy with the current set up.
“I think it’s better this way because anybody can use it (for a fee),” said John Maramba, a bangus exporter in California who was the first to avail of the services of the plant
“If you will enact another scheme like we would have lesser access to it, I hope there would be no additional government restrictions,” said Maramba, adding that under such a system, he might simply go to other processing options.
Andy Liang, a Taiwanese involved in the bangus business in Pangasinan for 20 years and chief executive officer of the company 3H, echoed the same sentiment saying based on previous meetings he attended, most stakeholders like him prefer BFAR to operate it.
“I believe BFAR here has the technology, Director Westly (Rosario) here also has the capacity and the ability to operate it because from the beginning he is the team leader and organized everything,” Liang said.
At the same time, Liang said he is open to a PPP scheme.
Jose Oviedo Jr. of the St. John Cooperative, which is also into bangus processing and had expressed interest in June to avail of the services of the plant, said he wants a PPP scheme wherein small cooperatives and other bangus producers like him could pool their products to meet the required minimum volume of two thousand kilos to be processed at the plant.
Dr. Westly Rosario, center chief of the BFAR in Dagupan, who acted as facilitator during the meeting, said the submitted options, for BFAR continuing to operate the plant or adopt a PPP scheme will be considered.
Last week’s meeting was attended by the BFAR national office legal team tasked to draft a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the plant’s management, other fishery officials in the region, and city council members.
BFAR Director Asis Perez was in town last Aug. 9 to look at the situation of the multi-million Korean government-funded plant, which is reportedly encountering operational problems mainly due to the lack of raw materials being brought in for processing.
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