| P250-M Diosdado Macapagal RORO port in Jose Abad Santos town, soon |
| Written by Eldie S. Aguirre | ||||||
| Wednesday, 25 June 2008 | ||||||
|
A P250 million seaport that would link the province of Davao del Sur to the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines – East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) would be constructed in Jose Abad Santos town.
Jose Abad Santos Mayor Alexander Wangkay, known to be Zander Khan in his singing career, said it would be called Diosdado Macapagal Port.
Wangkay said this is to honor of the late President Diosdado Macapagal who is the only president of the country to set foot on Jose Abad Santos.
“The father of our concurrent President personally went to this place when he was president and turned over some funds to build farm to market roads,” Wangkay said.
Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza has sent a letter to the office of the mayor expressing his interest to prioritize and hasten the construction of the proposed port.
On the other hand, councilor Junius Wangkay, who authored the resolution addressed to the office of DOTC to allocate funds for the construction of the project, said when completed the seaport would cater Roll-On-Roll-Off (RORO) ships from Jose Abad Santos to Balut Island in Sarangani, Davao del Sur to Tahuna and Bitung, Indonesia and vice-versa.
“Barangay (village) Balangunan which is the site of the port is a very strategic location to the countries within the BIMP-EAGA. That’s why the DOTC secretary is also interested to push through the project,” the councilor said.
In a media interview, Marlon Gayog, Jose Abad Santos information and tourism officer said the port would boost the existing “Jose Abad Santos, Glan and Sarangani Province-Cooperation Triangle” (JAGS-CT).
JAGS-CT was created to fuse all economic and development efforts within the triangle using their own resources to fast-tract programs that could bring welfare to their constituents.
Gayog expressed hope that the scheduled visit of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Jose Abad Santos, on July 01 for an ocular inspection of the site, will hasten the implementation of the project.
Ms. Arroyo will address the people of Davao del Sur on July 01 in its culmination rites for the 9-day festivities in observance of the province’s 41st founding anniversary.
A P20 million all-weather road is now undergoing construction from Barangay Meybio to Barangay Kitayo as part of the JAGS-CT economic development plans.
Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.12 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved. |
||||||