A financial grant ranging from PHP100 million to PHP240 million is expected to be received by the Legazpi City government from the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) that will be used to finance the construction of a poultry dressing plant (PDP) as yet another income generating project of this city.

In an interview on Thursday, City Veterinarian Office chief Dr. Emmanuel Estipona said his office is now preparing all the documentation and other requisites set by the PRDP as required by the World Bank (WB).

He said the PRDP is offering PHP100 million to PHP240 million depending on the feasibility project proposal of the city government.

“We will submit all the budgetary requirements this month to the PRDP. Once approved, the grant would be released by the WB to the Department of Agriculture (DA) and, in turn, would be released to the city government before yearend,” Estipona said.

He said the project materialized when he was invited by the Albay Provincial Agriculture and Fishery Council (PAFC), which explained to them the importance of establishing a poultry dressing plant that would benefit the broilers or the poultry owners and farmers not only in Legazpi City but also in the entire Albay province or even the whole Bicol region.

“During the PAFC meeting, its members made a resolution regarding my explanation for putting the PDP project in Legazpi and then it was submitted to the PRDP,” Estipona said.

He said the civil works of the PDP project will start once the city government receives the financial grant from the PRDP which is expected to be downloaded in December or early next year.

“Aside from being a revenue-generating project in the city, the PDP will provide 100 additional employment as manpower for the operation of the plant,” he said.

Estipona said the PDP project will be the first in the Bicol region and will be constructed within the 6,000-square-meter lot owned by the city government in Barangay Taysan.

“Aside from the building for the PDP project, other civil works for the construction of the building for multiplier farm for improved native chicken, including hatchery and incubator machines and fish mill buildings, will be erected,” he said.

Estipona said that Sally Christy, the focal person of PRDP for the PDP project in Legazpi, conducted orientation last Wednesday for the members of the Legazpi Livestock Poultry Raisers Agriculture Cooperative (LLPRAC) and other members of farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCA) regarding its implementation.

He said the LLPRAC will collect all the native chickens that the hatchery and incubator machines will produce and then distribute them to the members of the FCA for a contract growing scheme.

“While on the part of the independent broilers or the poultry owners not only in Legazpi or Albay but even the broilers from different parts of Bicol region, (they) can bring their 45 days chickens to the PDP for butchering and dressing services. That’s why this PDP project will be considered as another revenue generating income by the city government,” he said.

Estipona said that based on a study, around 144,000 heads of 45-day-old chickens are being distributed by independent broilers every two months to different market vendors in the province. (PNA)