The Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) is now working on the forthcoming construction of six post-harvest facilities, mainly fish ports, across different parts of the country.
A statement showed that PFDA General Manager Glen Pangapalan recently met with several local government units (LGU) officials across the country to discuss the establishment of new fisheries post-harvest facilities in their respective cities and municipalities.
Areas covered by this series of discussions include Tagum City in Davao del Norte, Mati City in Davao Oriental, Baler in Aurora, Salcedo in Eastern Samar, Cabugao in Ilocos Sur, and Malalag in Davao Del Sur.
For projects in Tagum City and Mati City, these will be included in the procurement activities of PFDA this July.
To be specific, Pangapalan is in discussion with Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon for the construction of Tagum City Modern Fish Market.
This project is the first-ever project to be implemented by the PFDA that is patterned in the modern fish trade market of Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.
Pangapalan said the agency opted to pilot Tagum City for this kind of project because of the identified surplus and demand for fish and fishery products in the area.
For his part, Rellon said that the memorandum of agreement between the two organizations will be immediately reviewed and endorsed to the Sanggunian for the passage of the resolution and immediate commencement of the project.
As for the project in Mati, this will involve the project construction of Mati Fish Port. The project component for the city includes reclamation, causeway, market hall, administration building, guardhouse, power and water utilities, and drainage system.
Meanwhile, PFDA’s procurement activities for new projects in Baler and Salcedo are already scheduled to start this month.
This, after the agency convened with Baler LGU to talk about the construction of the Baler Fish Port and Ice Plant and Cold Storage (IPCS) facility in the municipality.
During the meeting, it was agreed that the LGU will submit a letter, specifying their additional comments, requests, and/or proposals on the specification of the project.
PFDA also met with Salcedo LGU separately to discuss the construction of the Salcedo Fish Port. This development project includes upgrading and improvement of the existing causeway and access road, construction of a new causeway, market hall and admin office, comfort room, guardhouse, power and water utilities, and drainage system.
As for Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, PFDA likewise met with representatives from Cabugao LGU to discuss the construction of the Cabugao Ice Plant.
So far, the planned construction is still waiting for the final location, but it already has completed its detail engineering.
This infrastructure project includes the construction of a 5-metric ton ice plant and cold storage, power and water utilities, drainage system, and site development.
Finally, PFDA also linked up with Malalag LGU to talk about the construction of Malalag Fish Port. The project includes reclamation or site development, trading hall, drainage, sewerage system, outside water distribution system, and outside power distribution system.
Moving forward, the PFDA said it will be reviewing more fisheries post-harvest facilities with other LGUs across the country.