Contact Information

Local Government of General Santos City City Hall Drive 9500 General Santos City, Philippines Tel. No. +63 83 554-4214 / 552-7321/ 552-7320/301-2747 Fax No. +63 83 554-4212 Email: cmo@gensantos.gov.ph

With GenSan expected to not only continue but even strengthen its role as a regional food trading hub, the city has undertaken steps to enhance its food industry trading facilities.

Two priority projects are proposed:

1. the Integrated Food Terminal

2. The redevelopment of the Central Public Market and its surroundings.

CDIA

Cities Development Initiative for Asia

Strengthening GenSan’s Food Trade

General Santos City, or GenSan for short, is one of the most dynamic regional trading and commercial hubs of the Philippines. It is already well-established and widely acknowledged as the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines,” GenSan is a major food supplier as well as a major trading center and service hub for the export of agricultural products from the Socsargen region and other nearby provinces. Gensan’s existing primary food industry facilities are the City Bagsakan Center, the City Abattoir, and the Central Public Market.

Background Built many years ago, however, these three facilities have been overtaken by the city’s rapid growth and are now no longer capable of effectively and efficiently supporting GenSan’s booming food industry. With GenSan expected to not only continue but even strengthen its role as a regional food trading hub, the city has undertaken steps to enhance its food industry trading facilities. Under the project “Integrated Economic Development for Regional Trade in General Santos City” which was supported by the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA), the GenSan city govern-ment has conducted a comprehensive study of the city’s food industry and has identified two priority development projects: 1) an Integrated Food Terminal, and 2) the Redevelopment of the Central Public Market and its surroundings.

Economic Benefits

The investments in the Integrated Food Terminal (IFT) are expected to generate a range of economic benefits for the city and its residents. Aimed at providing affordable wholesale trading facility for agricultural produce, sanitary meat processing for hogs and cattle, and provision of land for food processing, the investments for the IFT is expected to provide economic benefits to the city that include resource and operating cost savings, additional tax revenues and income from fees and licenses from new enterprises. For residents and entrepreneurs, the expected benefits include job creation, export generation, environmental clean-up, and increase in farmers’ income.

Construction of the IFT is estimated to benefit about 125,368 households living in GenSan. Given the range of benefits of potential beneficiaries of the IFT, the impact of the investments would be favorable to not only entrepreneurs and farmers but also poor residents in term of job and livelihood opportunities and access to cheap and healthy food. Expected benefits from the investments in the redevelopment of the Central Public Market (CPM) are quite varied. It will directly benefit the GenSan city government in terms of operating cost savings, increase in user satisfaction, and indirectly results in an increase in the value of the land within the vicinity of the CPM. Additionally, the project will bring about opportunities for residents during construction and actual operation and, most importantly, stimulate business and economic activities in the vicinity of the CPM and the seaside area directly across it.

The revenue generated there will create a multiplier effect on the local economy in terms of consumption by workers in the upgraded CPM as well as the suppliers of goods and services. It will also create greater business transactions between the firms inside the CPM and distributors, traders, manufacturers and retailers outside the CPM. It is estimated that about 125,000 households living in GenSan are expected to benefit from the investments in the upgrading of the CPM. The range of benefits is wide-ranging and as such will benefit the poor as well as other residents and business owners. The economic analysis of the CPM upgrading indicate that it is economically viable in both Options A and B. Between these two options, however, Option B is more desirable because the economic analysis show higher economic returns than Option A.

Option 1: Total Redevelopment -- P 2.0 Billion Option 2: Conservation with Partial Redevelopment -- P1.3 Billion The cost estimates for both options include the value of the 2.2 hectare land parcel on which the CPM is situated. The financial assessment of the two options has shown that both are financially viable as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project. The assessment also shows that the most suitable contractual arrangement for the upgrading of the CPM would be through a build-operate-and-transfer approach.

In Option 2, Building A is proposed to be retained and rehabilitated because of its unique architectural significance and to serve as a cultural landmark commemorating the CPM's history. It is envisioned to house specialty shops and restaurants offering products made in GenSan and nearby provinces, and space for community events. The streets surrounding the CPM, namely: Santiago Boulevard, Cagampang Street, West Side Street, and Acharon Boulevard, are proposed to be improved to provide for a smoother flow of vehicles. Their sidewalks are particularly proposed to be rehabilitated to make them more conducive and attractive for pedestrian movement. This will involve repairs and improvement of the existing sidewalk paving, drainage system, traffic and directional signs, and street lighting. The private buildings along these streets are proposed to be improved by their owners through a "face-lifting" program that could include the provision of incentives by the GenSan city government. The area across the CPM on the seaside -- from the existing wastewater treatment facility to Queen Tuna Park -- is also proposed for redevelopment. The area presently occupied by Muslim informal settler families is proposed to be redeveloped to improve its environmental conditions particularly its drainage system. The concerned families may have to be relocated to a proper resettlement area. The vicinity of the mosque is proposed to be improved with the development of an open space that will enhance the cultural importance of the mosque itself as well as provide a spatial connection between the CPM and the sea. The area of the barangay centre is envisioned to be redeveloped to make it a more attractive space for community events, while the Queen Tuna Park is proposed to be improved to become a more user-friendly activity centre for leisure and recreation, with the possibility of establishing a small port for boats catering to tourists and sport-fishing enthusiasts. Environmental facilities in the area are also proposed to be improved. These include flood control and drainage, wastewater treatment, solid waste management, and materials recovery facilities for recycling.

Cost Estimates

Ground Floor Plan of Option 2

1.) Wholesale Food Market

Integrated Food Terminal (IFT) The IFT is envisioned as a strategically located wholesale agricultural produce marketing facility with abattoirs and a food processing center. This is aimed at improving the forward and backward linkages between the producers and consumers as well as the users of the facilities. It will provide the infrastructure to streamline the food supply chain from the farm to the market, and provide value-adding services to the supply chain stake-holders. It will be a major food outlet for fruits, vegetables, root crops, and meat products that are produced in GenSan as well as in the near by provinces of South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, and North Cotabato. It is also envisioned to be a secondary wholesale market for barangay food terminal markets. Its major components are: 1) the Wholesale Food Market; 2) the Food Proc-essing Center; and 3) the Abattoirs.

b) washing; c) display and selling with market information display; d) warehousing and fruit ripening spaces; and e) Cold Storage. It is estimated to have a throughput capacity of 30,000 metric tons of fresh produce, utilizing an area of 14,500 square meters. It will have facilities for transient or walk-in wholesalers who may rent stalls on a daily basis as needed, and doe wholesalers who may opt for long-term lease of stalls. Each stall is estimated to handle a minimum of 7 to10 tons of produce. The building that will house the Wholesale Food Market will have the following features: a) Produce landing and weighing area; b) area for sorting, grading, washing and packaging for all wholesalers; c) common wholesale bazaar area for transient/walk-in wholesalers (four blocks of 320 square meter each which can accommodate 160 wholesalers); d) a wholesale stores block which can accommodate 380 stores measuring 2.5 meters by 3 meters for long-term lease; e) ambient warehouses, ripening rooms and cold storage areas that will be available for rent by wholesalers as needed; and f) produce information boards located inside the Wholesale Food Market to inform buyers of available products. Areas will also be provided for ancillary facilities, such as: a) Administrative Offices with Meeting/Training Rooms; b) Canteens, Public Toilets and Shower Rooms; c) Agricultural Production Demonstration Plots to showcase new technologies or plant varieties; and d) Parking areas for cars and delivery trucks. The Wholesale Food Market will also be provided with the necessary environmental infrastructure, such as a wastewater treatment facility, and a material recovery facility for waste recycling.

The Wholesale Food Market is a facility designed to focus on wholesale marketing of fruits, vegetables and root-crops catering to large and institutional buyers and/or consumers such as su-permarkets, hotels, restaurants and quick-serve food chains, caterers, food processors, and large traders dealing with markets in other metropolitan centers such as Manila, Cebu, and Davao. The Market's basic facilities will include: a.) weighing, sorting, grading and packaging into smaller quantities for retailers;

Interior of Wholesale Food Market

Located across the Wholesale Food Market, the Food Processing Center is a cluster of land parcels of approximately 1,000 square meters each for the development of food processing and packaging facilities. These parcels can either be leased to entrepreneurs who wish to process and package food products from the produce bought from the Wholesale Food Market to provide for higher value products to consumers. It is proposed for investors to lease land or building space with shared facilities such as public toilets and shower rooms, power and water supply, wastewater treatment, solid waste collection, and possibly an administrative office.

The implementation of the IFT is proposed to be undertaken in three separate Public– Private Partnership (PPP) packages: 1) the Wholesale Food Market and Food Processing Center; 2) the hogs abattoir; and 3) the cattle/goats/sheep abattoir. The estimated costs are: 1) Wholesale Food Market and Food Processing Center -- P450 Million 2) Hogs Abattoir -- P180 Million 3) Cattle/Goats/Sheep Abattoir -- P130 Million

2) Food Processing Center

3) Abattoirs

the cattle/goats/sheep line is 5 to 10 heads per hour for a minimum of 8 and maximum of 20 hours of operation per day. For hogs, the target capacity is 60 to 70 heads per hour with the same minimum and maximum hours of daily operation. The propose hog abattoir is proposed to be designed, constructed, equipped and operated to meet the requirements for a Class "AAA" certification and conform with the requirements of pork meat exporters. The proposed cattle abattoir is proposed to meet the standards for Class "AA" accreditation initially, with provisions for upgrading in the future for accreditation as Class "AAA.". The layout of both abattoirs allows for modular building expansion options. Environmental infrastructure that are specifically designed for abattoirs will be provided, such as wastewater treatment facility and compost pits.

The IFT will have two separate abattoirs -- one for hogs, and another for cattle, goats and sheep. This will allow the city to respond to the increasing demand for Halal meat. The proposed capacity for

Cost Estimates

The components of a typical food processing facility are: a) Raw materials receiving area for weighing, sorting, and washing; b) processing area with a heavy-duty stove; c) Dryer; d) Packaging area for finished products; e) Fin-ished product storage; f) storage for packaging materials; and g) office.

Central Public Market (CPM) The CPM is an important historical landmark in GenSan. Strategically located in the city's central business district and with a natural connection to the sea, it was the primary landing and trading point of tuna and other marine products before the development of GenSan's modern seaport. It was the focal point of the city's economic and commercial activities then, providing that part of the town with dynamism and a unique identity. Since then, a number of developments have taken place. The seaport was constructed outside of the city centre, transferring the main landing and trading of marine products, together with processing and packaging. Acharon Boulevard became part of the highway system,

and that it provides a significant number of jobs and livelihood opportunities as well as a source of revenue for the city. Based on these reasons, it proposes the upgrading of the CPM and the ac-companying redevelopment of its surrounding area. The proposal involves: (a) the upgrading of the CPM itself; (b) the redevelopment of the area across Acharon Boulevard including the vicinity of the mosque, the barangay centre, and Queen Tuna Park; and the improvement of the streets and sidewalks surrounding the market block. For the upgrading of the CPM, two options have been studied: 1) Total Redevelopment, which involves the dismantling of the two existing buildings A and B,

and thus became a major barrier between the CPM and the sea. At the same time, new air-conditioned shopping malls started providing farm produce, poultry, meat products, and other goods in direct competition with the CPM. As GenSan's economy continued to grow, the com-mercial activities surrounding the CPM intensified and traffic congestion worsened. Meanwhile, the CPM's environmental infrastructure deteriorated with age. All these developments have contrib-uted to the drastic waning of the CPM's attrac-tiveness as a place to shop for cheap food and goods, as well as the decrease in income of the market vendors. In spite of these conditions, the GenSan city government believes that the CPM plays a major social, economic, and cultural role in the city's growth and development,

and their replacement by a new modern multi-storey structure; and 2) Conservation With Partial Redevel-opment which involves the rehabilitation of Building A into a modern retail and food center, and the dismantling of Building B to be replaced by a new multi-storey commercial structure. Both options envision the "wet" public market to occupy the ground floor of the new structures, to house the fish, meat, poultry, fruits, vegetables, root crops, packaged foods, grains, and other heavy dry goods. The second and third floors are proposed for other dry goods such as clothes, textiles, shoes, school supplies, etc., and a food court as well as other quick-serve food chains. The fourth floor is proposed to accommodate family entertainment and recreation facilities as well as service shops, offices and a small food court. In both options, parking is provided on the lower ground level.