PRA, AJTC signs MOC for Bohol 

jatropha processing plant

 

TAGBILARAN CITY, April 17 (PIA)--The Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) and Aoyama Jatropha Trading Corporation (AJTC) on April 13 signed a memorandum of collaboration (MOC) for the Reclamation Component of Bohol Jatropha Processing Plant.

PRA General Manager Janilo Rubiato and AJTC Chief Executive Officer Isao Aoyama signed the memorandum of collaboration at the Metro Centre Hotel, this city.

Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Mitchell John Boiser, representing the provincial government of Bohol and officials of the local government of Buenavista headed by Mayor Ronald Lowell Tirol witnessed the MOC signing which is on the matter of application by AJTC with PRA for the reclamation component of their Bohol Jatropha Processing Project.

Through the memorandum of collaboration, AJTC is given one year to secure all the needed requirements, including that from the local government unit.

As the company needs 40,000 hectares for the plantation of jatropha or locally known as tuba-tuba, AJTC will connect to potential planters within Bohol and the neighboring provinces like Masbate and Negros Oriental.

PRA assured that AJTC will be required to strictly follow the requisites for a reclamation project that is needed for the area that will house a 40-hectare processing plant in barangay Asinan in Buenavista town.

Rubiato assured that AJTC will be closely monitored in its compliance with the environmental standards set by the law and will be required to submit a study on geohazards to ensure that impact to the environment is minimized.

To reclaim a 40-hectare area, Rubiato said that it will require 3.2 million cubic meters of filling materials wherein part of the filling materials will be taken from the seabed, especially from the navigational approach channel that will be dredged to be able to accommodate large vessels.

The project includes a port component that can accommodate a panama vessel which usually has a dimension of 110 feet wide, 1,050 feet long and 41.2 feet depth.

Mayor Tirol on his part said this project will be a game changer in his town’s goal to achieve its mission and vision of becoming a progressive eco-tourism destination as the company also plans to construct a hydro-power plant that will tap from the dam being developed in Buenavista.

AJTC includes in its corporate social responsibility for residents of the host LGU to be given priority in livelihood opportunities and free ambulance service. AJCT is 40% Japanese owned and 60% Filipino owned. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol).

The signing of the memorandum of collaboration between Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) and Aoyama Jatropha Trading Corporation (AJTC) for the Reclamation Component of Bohol Jatropha Processing Plant in barangay Asinan in Buenavista, Bohol on April 13, 2018 at Metro Centre Hotel in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol).