Ex-MILF camp to become banana plantation – Piñol

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Camp Abubakar, the former main camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which practically encompassed all of Barira town in Maguindanao and portions of its adjacent towns, will soon become a major banana plantation, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said.

Piñol said the Department of Agriculture (DA) is dispatching soil experts, solar irrigation engineers, and digital technology experts so that the former rebel camp could start producing bananas.

He said the team’s specific task was “to help Bangsamoro farmers prepare their area.” (READ: MILF camps get farming equipment, support)

The aim to turn the estimated 7,000-hectare former rebel camp into a production area for Cavendish bananas is a partnership between the local farmers and a group of foreign investors.

“The Bangsamoro farmers who own the lands sought the support of the DA [on January 24] after signing a memorandum of agreement with French-Russian businessman Robert Gaspar for the development of their area into a modern Cavendish banana plantation,” Piñol said.

He described Gaspar as the representative of TechIron Resources and Switzerland-based Solway Investment Group. The companies are into mining but “would like to venture into aquaculture and agriculture investments in the Philippines,” he added.

Piñol said the banana project was worth P8 billion.

“The IT team, led by a Bangsamoro computer expert, will use satellite- and drone-generated data and images to produce a digital map of the [area],” he added.

According to Piñol, the Bureau of Soils and Water Management will be providing the soil experts, who will be conducting soil testing and analysis.

He said the banana plantation would be irrigated using solar power. The water would be drawn from the 5 rivers in the area.

“We would like to start with the projects right away because the market is huge and is just waiting for products from the Philippines,” Piñol quoted Gaspar as saying.

He also said the foreign investors were eyeing the Russian and the Eastern European markets for other agriculture and fisheries products from the Philippines.

The tentative launch of the project at Camp Abubakar has been set for February 16.

Camp Abubakar, which used to be the seat of the MILF’s Sharia-based government, was captured by government troops in 2000 after months of battle that saw dozens of rebels and soldiers killed.

It was rumored to have sizable deposits of minerals and other precious metal ores, but no actual exploration had been done as the MILF kept it off-limits for decades. – Rappler.com