DA to build P2-B cold storage facilities
Credit to Author: Eireene Jairee Gomez| Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2019 15:00:17 +0000
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is planning to put up P2 billion worth of cold storage facilities in five major seaports in the country as part of efforts to intensify quarantine measures against smuggled items.
“The Cabinet has approved [the budget for it,] so the plan is ready. We already told the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) about it, so by January we will be requesting the release of the budget” for them, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said during his department’s yearend press conference last week.
These facilities, which cost P400 million each, will be constructed in the ports of Manila, Bataan, Batangas, Cebu and Davao.
This initiative, Dar said, aims to change the close-open quarantine examination currently being done in the country’s entry points, which have a weak quarantine protocol against smuggled agricultural commodities.