BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The construction of slaughterhouses for the towns of Cauayan and Hinoba-an in Negros Occidental is now up for bidding after the provincial government got a “notice of no objection” from the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, provincial administrator, said yesterday morning that the slaughterhouses are “Double A” standard facilities.
The projects aim to improve the safety of food, especially meat products processed through the abattoirs “unlike in backyard slaughter where meat products are often dirty,” Diaz pointed out.
Also up for bidding are the slaughterhouses for the towns of Binalbagan, Murcia and Toboso and in San Carlos City.
“The slaughterhouse for E.B. Magalona is also being processed,” said Diaz.
The facilities would be fully-equipped and ready to operate when they are turned over to their respective local governments.
Each slaughterhouse has a budget of P50 million, with 80 percent of the project cost funded by the World Bank, 10 percent by the DA, and 10 percent by the provincial government.
Meanwhile, Jose Albert Barrogo, DA-Western Visayas Regional Technical Director for Operations, said the six localities are part of the 16 target project recipients in Region 6.
“This is in the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan of the province that will be funded by our agency,” Barrogo said.
“Before each project can be approved, it has to go through a process and documents such as feasibility study should be submitted. Each abattoir has its own objectives, how to be managed by the LGU, and how it can earn an income. It should be sustainable,” he said.
The PRDP, jointly funded by the World Bank, national government and participating LGUs, seeks to establish a modern, value chain-oriented, and climate-resilient agriculture and fisheries sector./PN
