A PRIVATE developer expects locators to begin operating this year in the Naga Valley Industrial Park (NAVA) in Barangay Cantao-an, City of Naga.
This could transform the community, for starters by creating 20,000 to 30,000 jobs in light industrial operations, said Ellen Mamac-Jumonong, general manager of Primary Properties Corp., a property development and management services company that developed two economic zones in Mactan.
“We already have numerous inquiries,” she also said, referring to foreign companies. Jumonong said that the developer saw the need for more economic zones for light industries, outside of Mactan.
In clearing their site, they tapped the local community’s workforce, said Rezza Omega, the company’s legal officer.
More jobseekers will find openings in Cantao-an, whose population was 5,133 as of May 2010, once the construction starts, the company officials added.
The NAVA site includes a rehabilitated building once occupied by the American company Seagate Technology Inc. and sprawls between two mountains.
“We rehabilitated the area, paved the road network, expanded the water system, and improved the power supply and drainage network,” said Omega.
Primary bought its 39-hectare site from Planters Bank, which, in turn, reportedly acquired it from another developer, MRC Allied Industries Inc.
Primary invested P1 billion to develop 36 hectares for industrial use, said Jumonong.
More access
Aside from the developments within the site, Primary Properties is also coordinating with local government and several agencies in the opening and paving of roads leading to NAVA.
Omega said that this month, the Province and the City of Naga will start concreting Tungkop Road, which is less steep than the present Cantao-an route, as an alternative way to reach NAVA.
From the site, Tungkop Road crosses the national highway, then leads down to Barangay Tungkop in Minglanilla, where the development of a port in Barangay Tulay is being planned.
From NAVA, another road is also being built to connect Cantao-an to Barangay Guindaruhan in Minglanilla, said Omega.
“Even at this early stage in our development, we are already getting inquiries from foreign investors,” said Jumonong.
The developer is awaiting a resolution from the City Council to grant them a development permit, which is among the requirements for a license to sell from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).
The site used to be part of the New Cebu Township One, a 250-hectare integrated industrial, residential and commercial township that began to be developed in 1997. About 50 hectares that had been intended for industrial use was called the Cebu Techno Park. New Cebu Township One is still listed as one of the principal assets and part of the land bank of MRC Allied Industries Inc., majority of which is owned by Menlo Capital Corp.