By IAN JOHN M. LAGARE
DAVAO CITY (10 December 2014) – General Santos City Mayor Ronnel Rivera said national agencies would be downloading more projects to his city in 2015 and 2016.
In the 5th SOCKSARGEN Area Development Plan (ADP) held in Seda Hotel on December 8, it was learned that Gensan will be a recipient of many development projects to be funded by different government offices.
“In fact, I am really awed and excited for these projects that will be granted by the national agencies. At last, we can start on making Gensan a progressive city that has a sustainable economy and enough support facilities for the entry of new investments,” Mayor Rivera said.
The Department of Agriculture (DA), the implementer of the ADP, has reported that they are allotting P303 million for the SOCSKSARGEN Food Security Program (FSP) for 2015 which will include the development of three agri-support facilities in General Santos such as the AA Abattoir.
For 2016, the tentative budget for the SOCSKSARGEN FSP is P489 million which will fund the construction of 23 more farm-to-market roads (45.63 kms in total), three rice and corn mills, and a Project Management Unit.
Out of the 45.63 kilometers, Gensan will have 8.35 kilometers of FMRs that will be fast-tracked in the 2016 FSP, said Mayor Rivera.
He also committed that the local government unit of General Santos City (LGU-GSC) is ready to provide the 15% cash counterpart for the following projects.
The DA also accounted that General Santos has generated P7 million savings out of its P70 million FSP allocation. This could still be used to fund other agricultural projects in the city.
Aside from the agricultural improvements, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has already allotted a total budget of P959 million for the development of the General Santos City Airport.
Dubbed as the “Aerotropolis,” the proposed development of the GSC Airport will include the construction and expansion of the Passenger and Terminal Building (PTB), miscellaneous works such as demolition, road inside the airport property, vehicular parking, and the purchase of navigational aids.
Personnel from the DOTC Project Development Services (PDS) have already met with LGU-GSC, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and the Area Development Project-Project Management Unit (ADPO-PMU) to gather inputs for the Detailed Engineering Design of the project.
Another P50 million have been also allocated by the CAAP for the improvement of the existing Passenger and Terminal Building to include the expansion of arrival and check-in areas, closure of an existing open space at the second floor, and the rearrangement of the entry and exit doors.
Nonetheless, it was announced by the ADP body that the Task Force Gensan on GSC Airport Development has endorsed a resolution urging the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) to cancel the Certificate of Land Title (CALT) over the 87 hectares of the airport property.
On August 7, a technical team constituted by the NCIP, CAAP, DOTC, DENR, DA, ADPO, and LGU-GSC met in Manila to discuss the matter. The ADP Board will pass a resolution to also urge the NCIP en-banc to expedite action on the matter.
The development of Makar Port, headed by the new port manager, Luis Cuison, will also take place starting 2015.
During the conduct of Makar Port Development Summit last July 2, Mayor Rivera, with other stakeholders from government and private sector, arrived at a consensus to develop the port’s capacity and capabilities to be globally competitive in anticipation of the ASEAN 2015. (Gensan CPIO/Ian John M. Lagare)
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