Monday, April 09, 2007 Village sails on wooden shipbuilding venture By Bong S. Sarmiento
MAASIM, Sarangani -- A 2.2-kilometer stretch of coastline in this sleepy town is now bristling with action, as the roars of chainsaws and bangs of hammers cut through the crisp winds and waves, fumbling the erstwhile dull shoreline.
Shirtless, muscular men swayed to and fro, yelled at each other, and poked fun on whatever while working meticulously on an engineering feat that can be traced back to the folk of yore.
Several meters offshore, the shape of giant boats -- perhaps bigger than the one built by the biblical figure Noah to avoid the great flood –- would definitely not be lost to the naked eye.
At Lumasal village, wooden shipbuilding is an emerging industry, bringing hope of a brighter future to a multi-ethnic population that is not a stranger to grinding poverty.
Villagers have fallen sick and seen death due to hunger even years before the shipyard rose at the idle beachfront last October.
But with the shipbuilding enterprise started to gain ground, the horizon looks broad, especially to at least 550 members of the Lumasal-Pananag Integrated Ecological Resource Multi-Purpose Cooperative.
Three wooden vessels, designed to catch large tuna stocks, are slated for delivery this June -- the first three ships that have been constructed at the local shipyard.
They were orders from Rogelio Lim Sr., the so-called "tuna king" in the nearby General Santos City, the "Tuna Capital of the Philippines."
"It is providing our people livelihood and the cooperative a source of income. In the long term, we hope to produce or market fishing vessels through our own," said Eduardo Paras Sr., cooperative chairman.
Each fishing vessel now under construction costs about P4.5 million, measures 25 feet wide, 90 feet long and about a storey building tall. It can accommodate 60 metric tons of cargo or 60,000 kilos.
Lim commissioned the boat, through a contractor, to ensure the vessels can withstand the fury of the ocean.
The cooperative provides the wood to the contractor, who hired several dozens of local people to do the labor.
"Eventually, if we can master the technology, we would be the ones who will directly construct these kinds of boats," Paras said.
He conceded that the cooperative is still incapable of producing such vessels since the required capital is big, aside from the fact that the group has no track record in ship-building that would assure clients of a sturdy make that will last for several years.
Hashim Benita, cooperative vice chairman, said the wood used in building the giant boats came from the 5,100 hectare Community-Based Forest Management Agreement concession of the cooperative granted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
For each boat, the cooperative supplies hard wood species, like yakal, apitong and lawaan, worth P1.5 million, he added.
For several years, the cooperative was barred from cutting trees in its concession area, as part of the National Government’s environmental conservation efforts, and due to the rampant illegal logging in the area.
But the suspension was lifted late last year by Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes, following the request made by Sarangani Governor Rene Miguel Dominguez.
In his order, Reyes said "the intention to lift the suspension on cutting permit for the cooperative was to meet the local wood demands especially for boat-making and fishing industry and considering the present plight of the people in the upland area who are dependent in the forest for their livelihood."
As a result of the lifting of the suspension order, the cooperative was issued a Resource Use Permit (RUP) wherein the allowed volume of trees that should be cut must not exceed 500 cubic meters or equivalent to 212,000 board feet.
The RUP can be renewed for the same volume, depending on the performance of the cooperative not only on their harvesting operation, but also their development and livelihood activities.
Paras said the five-year development program arising from the lifting of the logging suspension started in September 2006.
"Meaning, the lifting of the suspension (or the RUP) can be revoked if we will not perform well in a span of five years," he said.
Based on the plan, the cooperative shall, in five years, achieve P75 million cash or its equivalent in development initiatives within the community, Paras said.
Although the cooperative is confident of achieving the mark, Paras said they are concerned of rampant illegal logging activities in surrounding areas as well as lack of stable market.
Aside from the wood for building ships, the cooperative can dispose its wood products to the market.
"Illegal logging activities are bringing prices (of wood) down, thus, we are affected, and also because we have still not established a stable market access for our timbers," he said.
Since the wood equivalent of the three giant boats under construction reaches about 30,000 board feet, the cooperative has stocks of more than 180,000 board feet that can either be made into more boats or disposed to the market.
In this regard, the cooperative, Paras said, has sought the help of government officials for market access or to promote the new ship building industry.
Paras assured that wood entering the shipyard came from the cooperative's CBFMA concession area, amid allegations that some wood cut in other areas have found their way into the shipyard.
Because the cooperative can now cut trees in their concession area, life has become better for the residents.
"People can now send their children to school, they can buy clothes, and there is lesser incidence of malnutrition," Paras said,
Aside from the carpenters, the shipyard has sparked employment to around 350 residents who cut trees and transport them to the facility using carabaos.
"They are paid for their work and, thus, have money for their daily needs," Paras said.
For his part, Benita said that to sustain the cooperative, they have already established a fruit nursery to replace the naturally-grown trees, feeding the wood requirement of the shipyard facility.
Among the fruits found in their two nurseries were exotic ones like durian, rambutan and lanzones, he added.
The cooperative also embarks in other livelihood projects like vegetable farming and hog-raising to elevate the plight of the village, which has a population of 2,500 individuals or 375 families.
While cooperative officials boasted the other livelihood projects, their hopes are really pinned greatly on the ship building industry.
In fact, they have hired forest guards to ensure that the forest will be protected for the steady supply of wood in the years to come.
Worth about P3.5 million with no loans, the cooperative, Paras said, expects to raise its value in the near term as the group slowly tries to master the art of wooden ship building.
"The seed has been planted and we’re keen to let it grow," he stressed of the budding ship building enterprise in town.
