Still no green light for Seafood plant
KOREAN GOV’T EXPRESSES CONCERN
MARCH 1 came and went but the fate of the Seafood Processing Plant in Dagupan remains unresolved.
The supposed announcement last Thursday of a decision by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and city hall did not materialize as BFAR Director Asis Perez failed to appear in Dagupan and neither did he send word to explain his absence.
BFAR Regional Director Nestor Domenden, who was tasked to convey Perez’s decision to Mayor Benjamin Lim, was also a no-show.
In the meantime, Director Westly Rosario, chief of the BFAR’s National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center and manager of the plant, said he has reopened the plant to start running the equipment and machinery as part of the regular maintenance check on the advice of the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
The maintenance schedule is set for four times a week, four hours each time.
The South Korean government, through KOICA, funded the construction of the plant through a P100 million grant.
Rosario said KOICA officials have expressed fear that the equipment inside the processing plant, which has been idle since October 2011, will begin to corrode unless these are turned to run for hours regularly.
They also warned that if the plant’s equipment are not maintained regularly, the chemical in the plant’s freezer could leak out and cause hazard to the community and environment.
Rosario noted that a part of the plant’s roof is already leaking.
Meanwhile, the plant’s power consumption for maintenance will continue to be shouldered by BFAR.
Rosario added that BFAR is also spending for the security of the plant as they have uncovered attempts by thieves to steal pipes around the plant’s premises.
Rosario said he did not receive any advice or explanation from his head office about Perez’s failure to arrive as scheduled on March 1. It was originally set on Feb. 27 but was later postponed to ensure the availability of all local officials concerned, including the mayor and Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez.
The vice mayor has been outspoken about making the plant stay in BFAR hands since it has the needed technical expertise to operate it.
Meanwhile Mayor Lim has been lobbying with the Department of Agriculture for the joint management of the plant by the city and BFAR with a caveat to share in the operating costs of the plant.
Fernandez has expressed concern that the city can no longer afford to provide the funds for the joint management owing to the city’s commitments to debt payments annually.
DONORS CONCERN
Asis earlier discussed the impasse on the plant’s operations with former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., during which Fernandez was also present.
In that meeting, De Venecia conveyed the concern of the Korean government that the some members of the Korean legislature might file a suit for breach of agreement if the plant continues to be idle.
It was during De Venecia’s term as Speaker of the House of Representatives when he asked his counterpart in the Korean parliament to donate funds for the seafood processing plant in Dagupan.
De Venecia earlier sought the privatization of the plant since neither BFAR nor the Dagupan City government, which owns the plant, can engage in business.
The operation and management of the plant for the initial five-year period was handed to BFAR by the city government under then Mayor Alipio Fernandez in June 2010.
However, Lim, the succeeding mayor, has questioned the management agreement and has been demanding the immediate turnover of the plant back to the city government.
The scheme for the privatization supposedly rests on a joint management team with two members from BFAR, two from the city government, and one independent entity.
The team has yet to be formed.
Rosario reiterated his position that plant would be allowed to resume operation while waiting for the political decision to be made to avoid the early corrosion of the facilities.
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