$24-B investment set for review

DAVAO ORIENTAL – The implementation of the $24-billion Marina and Industrial Park, which is being eyed to be established in Banaybanay town in this province, will likely have to wait as the Provincial Government wants to further evaluate and study the proposed project before fully engaging on the big-ticket deal.

The heads of key offices of the province, during a recent meeting with CEO Asllan Jaku of Pionaire Finance Limited – the lead company for the said investment, have initially agreed to require the company to submit the master plan for the proposed project.

“From there, we will be defining the roles, the partnership, the obligations, and the responsibilities of all stakeholders,” said Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Freddie C. Bendulo, saying the province has to carefully evaluate its course of actions as it is still in the process of “knowing what it is getting in to and how much funds it is going to shell out”.

He said that the Provincial Government wants to get a clearer picture of the investment as well as the partnership.

“We want to thoroughly understand the entire business first. The idea is that they have to prove to us that they have the legal, technical and financial capacity,” he added, stressing that this is only a security measure of the provincial government as a stakeholder.

The Pionaire Finance Limited, a Hongkong-based company, together with its partner Shenzen Energy Group Co., Ltd., based in China, intends to finance, study, and develop a marina and industrial park in a 1,000-hectare proposed Economic Free Trade Zone at Barangay Maputi in Banaybanay town. The big-ticket marina and industrial park will be composed of 1200 megawatt gas-steam combined cycle power plant and Liquefied Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant; oil refinery; petrochemical complex; storage facility, and associated terminal; and import and export LPG storage and terminal.