P442-M outlay for Bataan ecozone okayed

BALANGA CITY, Bataan – Rep. Albert S. Garcia of the second district of Bataan announced yesterday the approval of a P442-million capital outlay for the upgrading of the infrastructure facilities of the country’s first export processing zone located in the historic town of Mariveles, this province.

Garcia said during an open forum with local mediamen on the occasion of the formal signing of notice to proceed for projects worth P13 million in the City of Balanga, Bagac, Mariveles, Pilar, Orion, and Limay towns that the amount would be used for the construction of warehouses, factory buildings, road network, sewerage and other improvements to make Bataan Economic Zone (BEZ) more competitive with other industrial zones in the country.

The young solon, deputy majority floor leader and regional chairman of KAMPI in Central Luzon, told The STAR that the director general of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) had notified him that the P153.65-million development project for the last quarter of the year is now open for bidding while the sum of P288.2 million for the expansion of road network and rehabilitation of standard factory buildings has been allocated under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) budget for year 2007.

Of the four listed ecozones in the country – Bataan, Mactan, Baguio and Cavite – the province has the bigger allocation for capital outlay in line with PEZA management’s continuous effort to really upgrade BEZ to make it at par with others, PEZA Director General Lilia De Lima said.

While other ecozones in southern Luzon have achieved fantastic improvement in terms of business export volumes and employment, the pioneer export processing zone performance decline for lack of sufficient infrastructure facilities and other amenities to attract locators despite the provincial government strong campaign, Garcia said.

A team of economic and health experts from the Office of Rep. Garcia and Department of Health (DOH) is studying the potential of the huge Bataan Economic Zone (BEZ) complex as future of medical and retirement tourism site because of its historical significance, scenery and availability of manpower resources to manage such dollar-earning industry.

Garcia added that the construction of world-class hospital and retirement village at the BEZ would also benefit thousands of workers and residents in Mariveles and neighboring town of Limay, Orion and Pilar.