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Thursday, October 09, 2003
CCCI helps Cebu economy
By Cherry T. Lim
THE Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) is going out on a limb to bring the government and the private sector together to agree on the measures to take to move the economy forward.
Carlos Co, CCCI president, said the chamber was concerned about the water and power situations in Cebu.
“We had a talk with (Cebu City Mayor) Tommy Osmeña about the water situation in Cebu,” he said during a recent press conference at the City Sports Club Cebu. “We’re trying to patch up the position of Tommy and the (Cebu Uniting for) Sustainable Water. We hope it can be reconciled by the end of the year or early next year.”
Five local government officials whose areas are within the central Cebu watersheds had signed a declaration, prepared by the Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water, agreeing to the creation of a coordinating council that will draft policies to manage water and land resources in the province.
Osmeña was not among them as he believes local governments should decide on their own how to manage areas within their jurisdiction.
CCCI records also reveal that the chamber was a signatory to the Cebu-Negros-Panay Power Challenge, where concerned power stakeholders agreed to pursue practical and sustainable power development for the provinces concerned to preventing any power shortage.
Robert Go, CCCI vice president for the chamber’s external affairs and relations division, added that the chamber was doing its part to save the environment.
Waste
He described the Cebu Common Treatment Facility, a joint project of CCCI and the Cebu Electroplaters Association with the support of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation and the Cebu City Government, as “the first and only treatment facility for liquid and solid waste in the Philippines.”
Go said the facility treats “the toxic and hazardous waste we produce in the factory and solid waste from the manufacturing side, even from Epza (Mactan Economic Zone).”
Aside from garbage, Clarito Fruelda, CCCI vice president for the chamber’s business development and management services division, said the chamber was also concerned about traffic.
Traffic
It has expressed support for an ordinance amending the Traffic Code of Cebu City because it would minimize traffic congestion in certain areas at peak hours. It also backed Mayor Osmeña’s move to “clean up the streets in the vicinity of Sto. Niño Basilica,” records showed.
To drum up business in the transportation industry, Fruelda said the Transhow, a regular exhibit for those in the transportation business, has been slated for Oct. 27-29 at SM City Cebu. Some booths are still available.
To improve the province’s overall global competitiveness, the 800-member chamber has also been helping to establish a match between the supply and demand for manpower.
Malee Bigornia, chairman of the industry-academe linkage committee, reported that the committee was now getting more representatives of the academe as members in order to strengthen the implementation of its initiatives.
He said the committee had also “talked to the DOST (Department of Science and Technology) and DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), and they are looking into telling industry we can fund some of your R&D (research and development.”
Corruption
Beyond business, the chamber is taking aim at the twin problems of drugs and corruption.
The CCCI has expressed support for Kamatuoran Inc., an organization of concerned citizens and groups seeking ways to address the problem of illegal drugs and the use of drug money to influence corrupt government officials.
“We don’t want to become the future Colombia of Asia,” Go said.
(October 9, 2003 issue)
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