BACOLOD CITY – Three local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental are recipients of vehicle disinfection facilities worth PHP2 million each from the Department of Agriculture-Western Visayas (DA-6) as part of the agency’s program to control the spread of African swine fever (ASF).
These LGUs are the cities of San Carlos, Escalante and Kabankalan, which are among the seven identified beneficiaries in the region under the National Livestock Program aimed at creating initiatives for recovery from and expansion against ASF.
Agriculturist I Eliezar Villar of the DA Regional Field Office-6 said in an interview on Thursday the three LGUs were chosen as recipients being strategic areas, where most carriers or transporters pass through going to the province.
The automated disinfection facility sanitizes vehicles, especially animal transport carriers, that pass through it at the port or the boundary checkpoint.
In San Carlos, the vehicle disinfection facility was installed at the port area on Wednesday while earlier, the installation was already completed at the Escalante port.
On Thursday, the installation of the vehicle disinfection facility was ongoing in Kabankalan, Villar said.
Both San Carlos and Escalante, situated in the north, are ports of entry for vessels coming from the neighboring Cebu province while Kabankalan is located at the boundary of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental in the south.
“For now, we have delivered and installed the facilities. Then we are conducting training before the formal turnover,” Villar said.
He added that LGU staff will undergo training on basic operation and maintenance of the facility. (PNA)