published December 17, 2008 in BusinessWorld and GMANews.tv
TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has proposed a P100-million budget to rehabilitate Tacloban Port next year, in anticipation of higher cargo traffic.
Tacloban port manager Winfred Elizalde said in a recent interview that the 2,500-square meter deck lies within the 3.5-hectare old wharf that has been deteriorating since it was built in 1936.
"Since it was constructed, there have been no rehabilitation efforts. It is still being used, but we have been imposing load limits of five tons to 15 tons," Mr. Elizalde said.
The proposal has been forwarded to the central office of PPA. Mr. Elizalde said they hoped it will be included in the priority list for 2009. The Tacloban seaport was not included in the list of 10 priority ports in the country that will be improved to meet international standards by 2010.
Last year, Tacloban port recorded a total of 439,566 metric tons (MT) of gross registered tonnage, consisting of 422,297MT domestic and 17,269 MT foreign.
"There’s a need to rehabilitate the old deck piles as we expect an increase in cargo vessel arrivals in the next years as construction booms in the city," Mr. Elizalde added.
Despite of the absence of passenger ships, the port earned P16.8 million in the 10 months to October, 17% more than last year’s P14.36-million income.
However, the number of ships that docked at the city’s port may decrease this year, with only 493 ship arrivals as of last month, against 635 ship arrivals for the entire 2007. "There are fewer ships that arrived this year, but those are large barges that brought materials in support of the city’s boom in construction," Mr. Elizalde said.
Among the shipped supplies were those for the construction of Gaisano Central Mall and Robinsons Place Tacloban. Gaisano held its soft opening last November 28. Gokongwei-led Robinsons mall is scheduled to start operating within the first quarter of next year. — Sarwell Q. Meniano, BusinessWorld
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