by Nanette Guadalquiver and Erwin Nicavera/PNA
BACOLOD CITY — The transfer of the National Food Authority (NFA) provincial office from here to neighboring Bago City is expected to push through later this year.
This was assured by Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. after Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel Piñol confirmed during his visit to the province last Friday that the NFA Council has already approved the transfer.
“Maybe we can’t hold a turn-over by June. But before June, the construction will start and by July and August, it can be done,” the governor said.
At present, the NFA-Negros Occidental provincial office is located on Gatuslao Street, a major thoroughfare in this city.
“(The transfer) makes sense because Bago City is your rice area. I don’t see any logic behind the continued stay of the NFA buying station in Bacolod City. It’s ridiculous, so we will go where the farmers are,” Piñol said.
He added that Marañon, who himself formally requested the relocation of the NFA provincial office, promised to complete the transfer before his third and final term ends on June 30.
The DA chief said he hopes that by the next harvest season, the delivery of palay can already be accommodated at the new NFA provincial office.
The provincial government has allocated PHP50 million for the construction of the NFA office building and grains silos.
The new NFA-Negros Occidental office and buying station will rise on a property beside the provincial government-owned rice processing complex, a DA-supported facility.
Three days before Piñol’s visit, NFA-Western Visayas Regional Director John Robert Hermano inspected the proposed new site in Barangay Tabunan. He was joined by NFA regional engineer Remy Tamson, NFA-Negros Occidental provincial manager Frisco Canoy, and Negros Occidental provincial agriculturist Japhet Masculino.
Canoy said that Hermano checked the status of the proposed site for his report, which includes suggestions and recommendations, to be submitted to the central office.
“The requirements have yet to be complied, including the designs, but other works like creation of staff work design are ongoing,” he added.
