FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III is in favor of modernizing the Sasa port in Davao because of its potential benefits not only to the local government but also to the national economy.
“Davao port has to be modernized. There is no question about it… The trade is going fast in Davao, in fact they just launched (recently) the Davao-Bitung (Indonesia) fast shipping, and you know Davao has benefited from that and so will Bitung…,” Dominguez said.
He said Bitung was nearer to Davao than Jakarta, adding flour mills in Mindanao could actually supply the Sulawesi city at lower cost than other parts of Indonesia.
“So it is really a very healthy trade between Indonesia and Davao. Davao’s exports of agricultural products are growing very fast so definitely they need a better port service,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez, however, said the Sasa modernization issue was a “very complicated” one because of the fact that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Davao did not approve the plan. “… So they have to decide, that is really a local decision that has to be made by the city government…,” he said.
Dominguez said a delay in the modernization would not derail trade in the area although a slowdown could be expected.
The Philippine Ports Authority in March this year requested the Transportation Department to ask the National Economic and Development Authority to cancel the P19-billion Davao Sasa Port Modernization project due to cost issues and terms of the deal.
Initially, the project was estimated to cost around P5 billion but the amount increased to P19 billion due to expanded scope when it was rolled out under the PPP program under the previous administration.
Under the terms, the winning private firm would be responsible for the cost of the construction and other development works at the port to turn it into a modern container terminal that meets international standards.
The Transportation Department earlier prequalified Asian Terminals Inc., International Container Terminal Services Inc., Bollore Africa Logistics, Singapore-based Portek International Pte. Ltd. and San Miguel Corp. for the Davao Sasa Port project.
Sasa Port is actually designed for break bulk cargo vessels, which is vital to the economy of Davao City.
About 500,000 metric tons of steel, wheat, fertilizer, motor vehicles, heavy equipment and other cargo not suitable for containers went through Sasa Port in 2014, according to PPA data.
Davao Integrated Port and Stevedoring Services Corp., an operator at the Sasa port, said the current capacity of Sasa stood at 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.