Sarangani's P22-M testing facility to boost food industry

ALABEL, Sarangani (July 7, 2007) – Sarangani's water and food testing facility would give a boost to the food industry in the region and also watch over the water quality of Sarangani Bay, industry and environment officials said yesterday.

When the facility is fully operational, entrepreneurs would no longer go to Manila for food testing, according to Engr. Nenita Barroso, trade and industry provincial director.

"This will save on their cost which will redound to lowering prices of commodities with quality products from SOCCSKSARGEN area," she said.

SOCCSKSARGEN, which largely covers Region 12 or Central Mindanao, stands for the provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City.

The new facility housed at the Environment Conservation and Protection Center (ECPC) in Alabel "is primarily intended for food testing such as histamine, salt, and salmonella analysis," according to Jelyn Apura, ECPC chief.

Apura said the facility could "generate substantial revenue" for ECPC, with Mindanao being a food exporter.

"We will see more entrepreneurs in the food industry because it will really help their businesses," Barroso said.

"The nutritional value of the products, quality, and shelf life can now be obtained readily thru the ECPC equipment," she added.

At the same time, the water quality of Sarangani Bay and other testing on fish and marine products can be done by ECPC.

Apura disclosed the new equipment worth P22 million have upgraded the center's present facility for water and wastewater analysis "to cater to more services and wider range of parameters to clienteles."

Complete delivery of the food testing equipment is expected "within two weeks from now," Apura reported Wednesday to Gov. Migs Dominguez.

Deliveries include glassware, chemical reagents, equipment for food testing and grading such as histamine, salt, salmonella analysis, stand-by generator, and wastewater treatment.

The new equipment will also upgrade ECPC's existing water and wastewater analysis facility for accreditation of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

"Two years from now the center would become an economic enterprise, a government-owned unit operating as a commercial entity," Apura said. "We then can do business outside."

Food analysis using the facility can accommodate the 409 food industries in the region and tuna producing companies in nearby General Santos City.

Environment Sec. Angelo Reyes has lauded Governor Dominguez' intention "to provide technical assistance not only to government offices but also to private sectors who come in and give grants for specific researches."

The Japan-funded ECPC, an environment research facility built by DENR through its Southern Mindanao Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (SMICZMP), was turned over to the province in August. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE/BCP/RGP)