MikeLigalig.com

The Energy Development Corporation (EDC) on Thursday inked an agreement with the Negros Oriental local government for the concreting of a 6.8-kilometer road that will lead to the five-hectare Industrial Park within the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Valencia town.

The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed by EDC president and CEO Paul A. Aquino, Gov. Emilio Macias II, Mayor Rodolfo Gonzalez, Jr. of Valencia, and barangay captains Nestor Timosan, Ma. Lea Salvoro, and Los Santos Russell of the geothermal host communities Caidiocan, Puhagan and Malaunay, respectively.

As agreed, all parties have pooled their resources to finance the P50-million road concreting project which is expected to be implemented by December 2009.

Dubbed as the “Road to Industrialization”, the highway will also be a vital link to EDC’s 192-MW geothermal steam field in Palinpinon, Valencia.

The road project is the provincial government’s response to Executive Order 661 that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed on Sept. 11, 2007, declaring the country’s seven geothermal sites as Special Economic Zones under the government’s Generating Investments in Geothermal Areas (GIGA) project.

Five of the seven geothermal fields are owned by EDC, including its steam field in Palinpinon, and those in Tongonan, Leyte; Bacon-Manito in Albay and Sorsogon; Mt. Apo in North Cotabato and Baco City and Murcia in Negros Occidental.

The geothermal facilities in Tiwi, Albay and Makban, Laguna are also included in the President’s Executive Order on the SEZs.

GIGA aims to encourage more investors to take advantage of cheap and clean power by setting up their businesses in these SEZs, as royalty fees generated by the host communities will be used to subsidize the industries’ power bills.

The road concreting project in Valencia is expected to usher in more employment opportunities and boost the economic activity in that town.

At present, a Norwegian-owned hydraulic company engaged in the manufacture of underwater equipment parts has begun construction of its operating plant in the Special Economic Zone in Valencia.

The company, Valencia Hydraulic Systems Technology, will be hiring at least 50 special-skilled welders and local laborers, some of them already being trained by the Provincial Integrated Skills Training Center (PISTC).

President Arroyo, in her 2007 State-Of-The-Nation-Address, had cited Valencia as a potential electronics capital of the country.

“Our (Philippine) government has encouraged local and foreign investors to take advantage of the cheap and clean power by building their businesses near our geothermal sites. The synergy of geothermal power and economic zones can only power up progress and empower more people in our host communities,” said EDC president and CEO Paul Aquino.

The farm-to-market road should provide more livelihood opportunities to all farmers’ associations, create more jobs from the industries that will operate in the zone, and attract more tourists to visit Valencia, he added.

Meanwhile, Macias described the MOA signing as an important event in the history of Valencia town and the province of Negros Oriental.

He noted that in many instances, the provincial government had endeavored to undertake development projects bankrolled by local funds to ease the lives of its constituents.

He lauded the “Road to Industrialization” as a good example of a partnership and commitment among LGUs and the private sector.

The governor said that once the road is completed, it will pave the way for industrialization in Valencia,

He, however, recommended for a 40-megawatt (MW )power allocation guaranteed for the SEZ which is eyed to cover about 20 hectares.

He said having good roads would complement the Special Economic Zone in Valencia.

For their part, the village chiefs of the three geothermal host communities expressed their appreciation for the multi-million peso road concreting project.

They said it has long been a dream for them to see the road leading to their barangays cemented and as such, upon learning of the proposed collaboration, they did not hesitate to allocate counterpart funds for it. (PNA)

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=21241.0