LAMITAN, BASILAN – The city of Lamitan received widespread negative publicity in 2001, due to the Lamitan siege, during which members of the Abu Sayyaf took twenty people as hostages. Lamiteños have since moved forward however, on the road to development, and have not allowed a troubled past to hinder their march toward a future of peace and progress.
As evidence of expanded development, local residents particularly appreciate the recent construction of roll-on, roll-ff (RORO) facilities at the Lamitan port. The RORO capacity allows trucks and other cargo vehicles to literally roll onto and off of ships plying the port, thus reducing cargo transport costs and improving the efficiency of port operations.
The RORO ramp, constructed through a partnership between the Regional Port Management Authority, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (RPMA – ARMM) and USAID’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program, was declared a part of the national RORO transport system or “Strong Republic Nautical Highway” by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Major agricultural products transported to Zamboanga from Lamitan include rubber, copra, coco lumber, cassava, and banana. From Zamboanga, the RORO facilities allow transport ships to carry vehicles loaded with river sand and other construction materials, grocery items, and wholesale dry goods back to Lamitan.
Tito Ramos, a rubber entrepreneur from Lamitan, used to rent private ferry boats to ship his products to Zamboanga. He claims that the RORO capabilities have been extremely beneficial to his enterprise and to the several others in Lamitan’s business community.
A high risk of damage to products was one of the historical concerns of local business people. Because cargo was unloaded from trucks, reloaded onto ships, unloaded from ships at the destination, and reloaded again onto trucks, the likelihood of damage during some stage of the transshipment cycle was substantial, as were the transportation costs. Now, however, because of the RORO facilities, goods are loaded directly onto trucks, shipped intact, and offloaded only at the point of destination, thus reducing the number of times that any cargo is handled in transit.
“There were a lot of times that the quality of our products was compromised because of improper handling, and that is something we really want to avoid. Worse, some were even stolen,” Ramos pointed out.
Because he has his own delivery truck, Ramos now enjoys safer and more rapid transportation of his products to Zamboanga. In the recent past, Lamitan exporters waited for days for their products to be loaded onto shipping vessels. Now, twenty-two minutes is the average time required for loading and unloading vehicles.
“The RORO system is also an advantage for us because the transport and loading/unloading fees are fixed,” Ramos added. This has lessened arguments between the entrepreneurs and porters.
Mr. Florence Herrera, Lamitan’s municipal planning and development coordinator, added that the RORO Ramp has contributed significantly to other infrastructure development in Lamitan, by accelerating the pace of construction projects, which no longer have to wait for extensive periods for the delivery of construction materials.
In the past Herrera recalled, it was not possible to purchase large quantities of construction materials—especially river sand—because the shipping was very expensive and the time required for delivery was extensive.
Economic activities in Lamitan have also increased, as direct buyers, coming from as far as Dumaguete, Cebu and Bacolod, purchase agricultural products from the Lamitan trading center. Such products are available only because they have been delivered, fresh to the center, by transporters taking advantage of the RORO capabilities. The trading center, another project constructed by GEM, in partnership with local officials, is a ten-minute drive from the RORO ramp.
The RORO capacity of the port is fully utilized, and reservations for the transport of vehicles must be made well in advance. Herrera pointed that people opt to use RORO since the shipping costs are lower, and shippers use their own vehicles – assuring the safety of their products – which can return to Lamitan on the same day.
By August of 2007, GEM under its Regional Impact Project initiative, will construct, in collaboration with regional authorities, approximately 41 projects including port upgrades, bridges, and road upgrades. Working with local officials, GEM will also construct approximately 815 smaller, Barangay Infrastructure Projects, such as footbridges, water systems, solar dryers, boat landings, trading centers, bridges and
roads throughout conflict-affected areas in Mindanao. All of the infrastructure projects supported by GEM are designed to accelerate economic growth.
GEM is implemented under the oversight of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo).
Lamitan Mayor Roderick Furigay’s believes strongly in Lamitan’s potential, and says, “We are proud to say that Lamitan is moving forward and we are now becoming the center of trade in Basilan.”
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