IMAGE OF THE DAYUSAID's Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) officials conduct ocular inspection at a newly-improved Bongao Port in Tawi-Tawi.

Traders hail USAID for Bongao port improvement
text HADER GLANG

The improvement at the Bongao Port, which was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has positively impacted on the traders’ operations and businesses in Tawi-Tawi, officials said.

Carlos Canda Tan, USAID contractor and GEM deputy program manager for infrastructure, who spoke to the Zamboanga Southwall said the upgrading of facilities and extension at the port have immensely benefited the businessmen’s operations.

“The business in the port at the moment is brisk due to extended and improved sea transport facility capable of servicing all sizes of seacrafts including RO-RO vessels and fastcrafts,” Tan said. “Right now the port has better docking facilities and additional berthing space for larger vessels.”

The Port of Bongao serves as the primary distribution node for inter-island transport of passengers in the area and the only port in the province that has the capacity to service large vessels (150 gross Tonnage and bigger).

Tan said the port right now is handling Ro-Ro type vessels, an additional 50 calls of medium-capacity vessels and fastcrafts and about 10,000 additional passengers per month that reduces passenger waiting time and vessel berthing time.

“The improvements at the port have contributed a lot to the increasing port productivity and to the growth of the local economy and regional development,” he added.

It will be recalled that prior to the port improvement, there are Roll-on, Roll-off type vessels from Zamboanga City calling on the port, but due to the absence of a Ro-Ro facility, these ships must load and unload cargo manually, adding congestion to the port.

The docking platform is too high to accommodate smalls and medium sized vessels. These types of vessels use the “Chinese Port”, a poorly managed port that is crowded with many passengers and traders who transit through the port daily.

Passenger fastcrafts plying the Zamboanga route use a makeshift landing dock located about 500 meters west of the main port. The existing port handled an average of 19,500 metric tons of cargo and 36,500 passengers a month. An average of 62 vessels a month called at the port regularly with a total deadweight tonnage of 28,775 metric tons per month.

USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program undertook the improvement of the port at a total cost of P53 million or $1 million US dollars, 31% of which is the ARMM’s Regional Port Management Authority (RPMA) counterpart.

Legalization of cross border trading

Traders hailed USAID for the port improvement and appealed to the government to expedite the legalization of “cross border trading” saying that the declaration of Bongao as a free trade zone would mean new jobs for the people and revenues for the improvement of the delivery of basic services to them by our local government.

Rolando Lim, president of Tawi-Tawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (TCCI), believes that the legalization of cross border trading would generate big revenues and promote better trade and business activities not only in the province but in the other areas of the ARMM.

“However, the government should not just look on the revenues aspect, it should also see on how to uplift the plight of the people in the province, being the second poorest province in the country,” Lim said.

For Redentor Lauddin, chairman of PJ Philsan Jaya Trading Corporation in Tawi-Tawi and external TCCI vice president, “if the cross border trading is legalized it will give more economic activities here (Bongao), more investor and employment.”

Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sahali said the move to declare Bongao as a free port zone is now under deliberation in the regional planning board of the autonomous government. “It was started after the holding of the business congress here last year.”

“This (cross border trading) will greatly boost the economic activities in the province and promote better trade with the BIMP-EAGA areas,” Sahali said.

Tawi-Tawi good site for eco-tourism business

According to Sahali, Tawi-Tawi, which is the most peaceful province in the ARMM and very close to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia is a good site for eco-tourism business.

He added the province is probably one of the world’s best dive sites, “if not eco-tourism and investors could go to seaweeds and aquamarine industries.”

The governor also said the completion of the Ro-Ro wharf in Tawi-Tawi will eventually contribute to the development of business activities in the province.

Based on Mindanao Economic Report 2004, produced by the Mindanao Economic Development Council, the island’s “economy consistently showed remarkable resilience brought about by the strong support of the agriculture and services sectors.”

Mindanao’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors posted a growth of 3.8 percent. Its exports to Indonesia grew by 96.89 percent in 2003, $12.5 million, than in 2002, $6.4 million. Export to Malaysia for the same period also grew by 6.3 percent.

Mindanao’s value of exports grew by 14.07 percent last year than in 2003. Exports in 2004 were valued at $1.4 billion while in 2003 it was $1.2 billion. Its major exports are coconut oil, banana, tuna, pineapple, iron ore agglomerates, pineapple juice concentrates, rubber, nickel ores, and desiccated coconut.

A number of new investments continued to pour in Mindanao, according to the Mindanao Economic Report 2004, with registered projects shooting up by 38.1% in 2004 and targeted to generate 7,243 jobs. Total value of these registered investments reached P7.81 in 2004 or a 279.6% growth from P2.06 billion in 2003. (ZS)