DTI-Cebu turns over SSF in Argao, Talisay

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry Cebu turned over Shared Service Facilities in Argao and Talisay City, Cebu last Wednesday.

Argao, which is known for its weaving industry, got 20 loom weaving machines, and since the industry is already in the brink of dying, the Cebu Technological University (CTU) Argao Campus offered to extend its technical and supervisory knowledge and skills to help the industry recover in the community.

The loom weaving SSF has a total project cost of P825,000. The launch was led by DTI in partnership with the Junior Chamber International and Cebuano designer Dexter Alazas.

Tita Sarile, CTU Chairman for Extension Services said that they had a research about people doing handloom weaving and found out that the youngest among the weavers is already 42 years old. Thus, to help sustain the industry, they requested DTI for support.

On the same day, the Talisay Women’s Federation was given sewing machines with a total cost of P628,00.

Led by Myrna delos Reyes, women in the barangays were given livelihood through the Rug Production Entrepreneurship Project. However, since the demand for rugs was to high, they sought for support from DTI's SSF project to help them meet the surging demand for rugs.

With the new sewing machines, the federation now aims to expand their project by producing other items such as pillows, pillow cases, curtains, and uniforms. From 120 thousand plus production prior to SSF, the production volume can go up  annually by as much as 1 million with the SSF.

With 36 sewing machines and 11 industrial sewing machines the production volume is seen to improve from 28,000 rugs per month to 110,000 rugs per month.

Moreover, the Woman’s Group Organization of Medellin and Finance Group of Caputatan Norte also benefited from Rug Entrepreneurship in cooperation with Cebu Normal University.

Moreover, solar fish dryers were also turned over in Barangay Atop-Atop, Bantayan, Cebu yesterday to the members of Damgo sa Kaugmaon. With 42 coastal communities, 25 of which have been organized by Damgo under the Back to Sea Project. These coastal communities will benefit from seafood processing and drying facility.

The total project cost of the solar fish dryers is P790,000 composed of two solar power set-ups and two solar powered fish-dryers. These facilities are expected to improve sales from P540,000 to P936,000 per month.

Meanwhile, additional machinery and equipment worth P2,455,000 are scheduled for launching and turn-over to 10 farmer-communities in Sibonga, Aloguinsan, Carcar, Naga, Compostela, Carmen, Alegria, and Toledo City.

 This year, 14 SSFs with a total cost of P21,694,913 are allocated for launching and turn-over to communities.

The Shared Service Facilities (SSF) Project, which aims to improve the competitiveness of MSMEs by providing them with machinery, equipment, tools, systems, skills and knowledge under a shared system, is a major component of the MSMED program. (FREEMAN)