The Mindanao Business Council (MBC) has decided to step into the Tampakan issue to save the benefits of the huge investments.
MBC head Vic Lao, in a meeting with members of the media and the academe in Davao City, said that the business sector will step in to save the benefits from the proposed Tampakan project.
“The Mindanao business sector has decided to step in because we do not want the benefits of this project put to waste”, Lao said.
“The proposed Tampakan project can contribute a solid 1 percent to the GDP and it is of Mindanao’s interest that we all help protect this investment,” Lao said.
According to Lao, many of the laws and regulations being put in place are not friendly with business in Mindanao, including mining.
“Mining is one of the biggest contributors to the Mindanao economy and we will not allow the national gon vernment to deny Mindanao of this industry and its benefits,” Lao said.
MBC sent an has sent official communication to Environment secretary Ramon Paje expressing the Council’s disappointment over Paje’s decision on the Tampakan project’s application for an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
The MBC letter signed by Lao himself stated that the secretary’s action “based on an unfounded basis undermines and threatens investor confidence and impacts on the stability of the local business environment in Mindanao.
According to the feasibility studies by Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), government contractor for the proposed Tampakan project, “the Tampakan mining project can contribute an additional 10.4% to the gross regional domestic product of regions 11 and 12 annually, throughout the mine life of the project.”
“The Council, representing the large business sector of Mindanao, has already adopted the proposed Tampakan project as our flagship project,” Lao said.
Lao also said the business sector in Mindanao has identified mining as “a key growth sector” in the Mindanao Development Agenda.
Last year, the Mindanao Development Council (MinDA) also came up with its economic map dubbed as Mindanao 2020, also identifying “mining” as a key economic driver, Lao said. (PNA)
