Butuan plans to loan P10b for Masao port project

By Ben Serrano,
Correspondent

BUTUAN City- The local government under leadership of contractor and City Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada plans for a P10-billion loan for Masao Port Project in Barangay Masao, Butuan City.

Butuan City information officer Paul Gogo said the present city administration under Mayor Lagnada found it necessary to resort for a P10-B loan with Government of Japan under official development assistance because of the huge amount it needed for the port construction.

“According to the Mayor P10-B loan is needed to finance the said port project. It will be relatively dole out loan and it will be a project between Department of Transportation or it will be a ventured through a Public Private Partnership but the port construction will be funded under ODA from Jica Japan,” says Gogo.

Gogo added the construction of the port project dubbed as Masao International Seaport will start by year 2020.

Mayor Lagnada’s term as Butuan City Mayor will end 2019 unless he will run for re-election again for city mayor by 2019 also.

“Including the pre-Feasibility Study and the Feasibility Study in the medium term, six years is the projection for the development of the seaport. Six months for the pre-feasibility and 1 to 2 years for the feasibility. I think that’s the shortest and the programming or the implementation of the structure will happen in year 2020 our estimates the most” added Gogo.

Gogo added that once the seaport project implemented it will serve as engine of growth for the entire City of Butuan and bring employment.

Gogo claimed the seaport project is part of the planned infrastructure projects under Lagnada for the North Butuan Economic Zone.

Gogo however did not explain who will pay the P10-B loan since it is a loan not an assistance from Japan.