THE expansion of the Aboitiz-led West Cebu Industrial Park (WCIP) in Balamban is set to commence construction in January 2022, a top official of Aboitiz InfraCapital said.

“Planning for the 39-hectare expansion of West Cebu Industrial Park is now complete and construction is set to begin in January. This is expected to generate up to 14,000 new jobs in Balamban and nearby communities once fully developed and occupied,” said Cosette Canilao, president and chief executive officer of Aboitiz InfraCapital in a recent virtual media briefing.

Incorporated in 1992, WCIP is operated and developed by Cebu Industrial Park Developers Inc. (Cipdi), a joint venture project of AboitizLand and Tsuneishi Holdings of Japan.

Currently, WCIP is a 540-hectare mixed-use estate anchored by a 283-hectare Philippine Economic Zone Authority registered zone that has complementary commercial, institutional and residential components. The estate hosts 11 locators from medium to heavy industries, some of which are the biggest shipbuilding firms in the world.

The completion of the expansion is scheduled on December 2023. Cipdi said the expansion will see 39 hectares for industrial locators. There will be 15 lots in total, ranging from one- to five-hectare areas.

Moreover, the expansion will allow for more industrial spaces plus a four-hectare commercial complex, a central terminal and communal parks. New locators and businesses that will be brought in are expected to generate up to 14,000 new jobs for the municipality.

With the expanded industrial zone and additional amenities, Cipdi said it expects to attract a more varied mix of locators into WCIP, including light and medium manufacturing companies. The company has started taking reservations for the upcoming inventory, and has already secured new locators.

“At the beginning of the year we set out our commitment to invest in the long term of our country’s infrastructure,” Canilao said.

Other highlights

Canilao said the group’s 2021 priorities included expanding the footprint of the integrated economic centers, launching the common towers project and additional deployment of small cells attachment for mobile operators, ramping up the construction of Apo Agua’s Davao City bulk water supply project and building estate water through Lima Water.

Canila noted that through Unity Digital Infrastructure, the group completed four sites for the mobile network operators well ahead of schedule and are in the various stages of site acquisition and construction of over 400 towers.

For small cells, Canilao said they expect to deploy additional attachments for Globe and Dito to bring the total cell site deployment to over 350 sites by yearend with a new market in Subic in addition to Cebu and Davao.

Apo Agua, on the other hand, is on track to begin operations by 2022. On the other hand, Lima Water’s current build volume of 7.4 million liters of water per day is 10 percent better compared to the volume in 2020.