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THE
Philippine government’s plans to modernize the country’s
shipping industry will proceed as scheduled despite a
fire, which razed the Manila offices of the Maritime
Industry Authority (Marina).
Although a number of “very important documents” were
destroyed by the conflagration, the fire “has no
negative effect on the program” to further develop the
Philippine shipping industry, Vicente T. Suazo Jr.,
Marina administrator, said Wednesday.
The
fire at Philippine President Lines Building, where
nearly all of Marina’s important documents were kept,
continued for more than a day starting early Wednesday
morning.
The
Philippines’ shipping regulator occupies three floors of
the building, which is owned by a newspaper publisher,
sharing it with a shipping company and a bank.
Almost all of Marina’s day-to-day operations were
undertaken manually, involving tons of paper-based
documents involving seafarers’ requirements, case files
on shipping companies’ violations, and policy papers,
among others.
Last
month, Suazo said that the body will unveil its grand
plan to perk up the country’s maritime industry,
considered as its first biggest move three years after
the government signed the Domestic Shipping Development
Act into law.
The
plan includes improving the capabilities of the
country’s small and medium-sized shipbuilders, most of
which are currently operating as ship repair facilities.
It also involves financing for both vessel companies and
shipyard owners.
Demand for new vessels are expected to grow soon since
the Strong Republic Nautical Highway, a project which
links ports and roads, is almost complete.
According to a 2005 study made by the Japan
International Cooperation Agency, the government should
first to solve the problem of the low demand for
locally-built ships and curtail high- exportation rate
of Philippine-made vessels to modernize the shipping
industry. |
