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DOST SETUP to focus on environmental projects in Zamboanga Peninsula

ZAMBOANGA CITY, March 3 (PNA) –- Businesses that are into environmental protection such as waste recycling and the development of renewable energy will be the priority for the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) for this year.

“Based on the policies initiated by the central office, we will no longer limit to the eight priorities, but expand it and include other areas, especially environmental protection and alternative source of clean energy,” Mahmud Kingking, DOST assistant regional director for field operation services, said on Friday.

Kingking, who oversees the SETUP in the region, said shoring up economic development and ensuring the country’s food security should not be at the expense of the environment.

“Environmental protection through science and technology is needed for sustainable development,” he said.

Priority sectors initially covered by the program are furniture, food processing, gifts, toys and housewares, marine and aquatic resources, horticulture, metals and engineering.

Kingking said the new shift is to encourage the upgrading of existing businesses that will help address environmental issues, and develop new business ventures that are environmentally sound.

“We have seen the huge negative impact to the agricultural sector due to climate change,” he said.

According to Kingking, rice farmers in Zamboanga del Sur have started to move from the usual open solar dryer for their crops to the environment-friendly mechanical dryer due to unpredictable weather patterns.

“Aside from our aim to continue to provide services that improve the lives of our people, especially in the countryside, it is also equally important to put premium on environmental preservation,” he said.

SETUP has been among the flagship projects of the DOST to help develop quality products for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

It is a nationwide strategy to encourage and assist SMEs to adopt technological innovations to improve their operations and thus boost their productivity and competitiveness.

The program enables firms to address their technical problems through technology transfer and technological interventions to improve productivity through better product quality, human resources development, cost minimization, and waste management, and other operation related activities.

Under the program, qualified MSMEs will be assisted in acquiring new technology such as machines for their productions through a rent-to-own scheme.

The beneficiary will be given a six-month grace period before the first payment for the three years, and may be extended for another three years depending on the cost.

Kingking said they expect the bulk of this year’s P59.8-million SETUP fund to go to businesses that promote environmental protection.

He said that this year’s budget would enable them to financially assist 53 MSMEs projects.

“We are encouraging MSMEs to adopt our technology. It will not only improve their productions, but also help in the conservation efforts,” he said.

Since its implementation here in Zamboanga Peninsula in 2001, the bulk of the SETUP went to food processing, metals and engineering, and others.

However, there was no substantial allocation made to those small businesses that are into environmental protection.

At least P208-million worth of technology-based solutions was provided to the local SMEs to upgrade 268 projects across Zamboanga Peninsula in 2001 up to the present.

In 2016 alone, the DOST SETUP was able to generate a 29-percent increase in productivity among the assisted MSMEs.

It also generated almost P400million in gross sales, and employed 1,587 new jobs across Zamboanga Peninsula. (PNA)
LAP/NYP/TPGJR/DARWIN WALLY T. WEE

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