The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority will hire some 2,000 workers for the planting and harvesting of bamboo to meet the needs of a foreign investor in Casiguran.
Apeco president Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. said the locator, Futenco, was occupying a 200-hectare site to include a plantation and production facilities.
Sarmiento said the project is backed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Science and Technology.
“It will provide jobs and livelihood opportunities not just to residents of Casiguran but also to adjoining communities,” he said.
Futenco will produce bamboo chips for biomass plants and bamboo cotton for garments along with furniture.
“Among those who will benefit from this are the Dumagats in the San Ildefonso peninsula,” Sarmiento said, adding that they can use their own land for the cultivation of bamboo needed by Futenco.
He said no Dumagat will be displaced because Apeco has committed to help them secure their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title with free legal assistance “The Dumagats are being given priority in all Apeco projects,” Sarmiento said.
He said seaweed farmers in the ecozone have made a harvest from the initial 3-hectare seaweed farm of 16 families in Casiguran for reseeding to expand production to cover 100 hectares to benefit 400 households.
