• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Department of Agriculture will be asked to fund the construction of the Bacolod agri center, with a warehouse and modern cold storage facility, worth P750 million.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod approved Jan. 15 the resolution requesting DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., who also leads the Philippine Rural Development Project, to allocate the needed funds for the construction of the agri center, noting that the city government operates “within a tightly-balanced budget…which limits its capacity to finance major infrastructure projects.”
The construction of a city agri center with a warehouse and modern cold storage will ensure proper handling and stowage of produce, and provide marketing and trading facilities to support the agricultural sector, but this requires substantial funding, hence the request to the DA, the resolution, authored by Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, stressed.
Sayson, chairperson of the SP Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries, said the city has been pursuing initiatives to help farmers and fisherfolk expand production, diversify products, improve trading and retailing services, and steadily increase household income and surplus.
“Other key economic players in the city, including major food and fish traders and importers, have expressed interest in expanding economic activities and investments in Bacolod but have been hindered by the lack of essential facilities, such as an agricultural trading center, warehouse, and modern cold storage,” he added.
The SP already approved an ordinance establishing the Bacolod Food Terminal Complex and Cold Storage Facility, also authored by Sayson, last year.
The complex shall serve as a bagsakan center for wholesale or in-bulk agri-fishery products delivered by farmers and/or producers from Bacolod or nearby communities.
Within the premises of the complex, a cold storage facility shall also be established to provide proper storage and preservation of perishable agricultural and fishery products, the ordinance stressed. | CGC
