By: Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante revealed that several investors are eyeing the second district of Negros Occidental for possible expansion.
In an interview with reporters during the weekend, Escalante said an P8-billion reclamation project in the city under a Public Private Partnership scheme is in its final planning stages
Escalante said that Tamiya, a locator based in Mactan Economic Processing Zone (MEPZ) in Cebu, visited Manapla, Cadiz City and Sagay City, all in the second district in northern Negros Occidental, to check on possibly moving to the province.
“We brought them to the economic zone in Sagay and we hope to hear from them before the year ends. They will leave MEPZ by 2022. But from what we hear from their comments during their visit, it is positive,” he said.
Escalante said investors cited that people in the area “have not been recruited yet and are highly trainable.”
On the other hand, the reclamation project has three phases.
The first phase will cover 25 hectares and has a deep water port while the next phase is also 25 hectares and the third phase is 50 hectares.
The project will be implemented in two to three years.
The first phase includes the development of an international port annex to the existing port.
Escalante said that the second and third phase will only be undertaken “as needed.”
It is under a public-private partnership thus “the city will not spend a single centavo here,” Escalante stressed.
The international port will cater mainly to cargo with direct link to Batangas.
“You have to consider that 50 percent of the agriculture in Negros Island is in the northern part of the province so you are talking of sugar going out, the inputs fertilizer and machineries coming in, so that they have foreseen a significant traffic for this.”
There are other locators asking about Cadiz City – Steel Asia, City Sports Inc., and Frabel Fishing, Escalante added.
Escalante also said that Cadiz City Manapla and Sagay City are putting up their respective economic zones.
