The freezer is a commitment of DA Secretary Proceso Alcala to the association when he visited Surigao del Sur on June 2011. The machine has a capacity to produce three tons of ice per day. The making of ice takes two hours and is done by batches with 16 blocks of ice weighing eight kilos each produced per batch.
The machine can also be used to freeze agricultural products like fish, poultry, and vegetables to prolong its shelf life.
Tanbofisa operates a Barangay Food Terminal as well as an ice plant in the public market.
According to Wilma Evangelio, their business manager, with their old ice-making machine, they only get to produce 72 ice blocks weighing 25 kilos each per day which is not even sufficient for the needs of the market vendors in the market. She added that now that they have the freezer, they hope that they will be able to meet the demand not just in the public market but also the entire city and also increase the income of the food terminal.
The local government of Tandag counter parted with a transformer and circuit breaker and its installation which amounted to P130,000 while Tanbofisas counterpart is the building.
Tandag City Administrator Aldy Novo who graced the turn-over ceremony expressed his gratitude to the Department of Agriculture for granting the said project to the fishers association and encouraged the members of the association to take good care of the machine and use it well as it will be a big help not only to the BFT but to Tandag as well.
Government Grants Fishers Association Quick Ice Freezer Machine
PHILIPPINES - The Department of Agriculture, in coordination with the National Agri-Business Corporation (Nabcor), turned-over a Liquid Quick Freeze Machine worth P4.6 million to the Tandag Boholano Fishermens Association (Tanbofisa) held recently at the Tanbofisa Ice Plant in Surigao del Sur.
by Lucy Towers
