BARANGAY Mintal's “Little Tokyo” is still waiting for the 3D perspective tourism plan from Berkman International Incorporated consultancy firm before the implementation of the plan can be done.
“For now, we are still waiting for the perspective design to be presented to us by the consultancy firm. Until then, the schedules for the dates for Little Tokyo’s establishment will still be dated,” Mintal Barangay chief Rey Amador M. Bargamento said in a phone interview on Thursday, August 9.
“With regards to our last meeting with Barangay Mintal and my representative here in the office together with the consultancy firm a year ago, we had a bit of a problem with that. The consultancy firm was asked to comply for 30 days for the 3D plans,” Davao City Tourism Operations Office (DCTOO) head Generose Tecson said in an interview on Thursday, August 2 at the city tourism office.
On March 2017, Berkman International presented the final draft of the “Little Tokyo” project to the community of Barangay Mintal. The meeting was attended by village officials, tour operators, tour guide, transport sector, and the academe at the Village Hall of Mintal for the draft presentation.
According to Berkman International, the final draft costs at around P10 million. The master plan aims for the development and restoration of Barangay Mintal into “Little Tokyo”.
The Berkman International Inc., a professional consulting and project management firm, won the bidding done by Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.
Bargamento said, the “Little Tokyo” project will feature a Japanese hospital, market, cemetery, and the monument of Ohta Kyozaburo, a businessman who established the first Japanese-owned abaca company in the Philippines.
“Definitely, this will bring economic boost to the barangay as it will try to reminisce its Japanese influence form the past,” Bargamento said. (GAD)