WASHINGTON: The Bureau of Customs (BOC) will modernize its central port facilities to further improve management and provide excellent services to the public that is at par with the best practices in the world. Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon over the weekend said they are in the process of coming up with a plan, which will be presented to the finance department and Congress.
Targeted for development is the 300-hectare lot owned by the BOC in the South and North harbors in Manila where the bureau’s flagship ports, the Port of Manila (PoM) an the Manila International Container Port (MICP) are located. “We have around 300 hectares of area being managed by the PPA [Philippine Ports Authority], combined PoM and MICP. It’s a big area,” Faeldon said. He disclosed that part of the plan is the construction of a modern rendering facility to address the bureau’s nagging problem on the disposal of confiscated goods that are deemed health hazards. “We can build there a state-of-the-art rendering facility. Part of our plan is the improvement of port facilities,” Faeldon said. “That’s why we are coming up with a development plan for port facilities,” he added.
Faeldon explained that the issue has become a challenge to the bureau in the absence of a rendering facility, which has prompted the BOC to go to the provinces outside of Metro Manila to look for an area where hazardous goods can be destroyed or buried. “It’s not our control all alone. We have to find an area owned by a local government unit, We have to request for permits. It’s really an issue where we would bring these disposable goods,” he added. According to Faeldon, they have at present some 100 containers vans of “ukay-ukay” or used clothing in their inventory that are subject for disposal but no one would like to accept, including the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWSD), for health reasons. He pointed out that in such a situation the problem goes back to the issue of rendering, thus it has become a necessity for the Customs bureau to have its own rendering plant right within its backyard. “That is why the solution here is for the BOC, for the government, to put up a rendering facility in the port facility. This is part of our plan for the improvement of port facilities,” Faeldon said.
