PRIMEX conducts the Feasibility Study on the Expansion and Improvement for the General Santos Fish Port Complex

The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) awarded PRIMEX, in joint venture with EDCOP, the consulting services contract for the Feasibility Study on the Expansion and Improvement of the General Santos Fish Port Complex. The project started in September 2018 and is in the final stages.

The General Santos Fish Port Complex (GSFPC), managed and operated by the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, is the largest fish port and fish provider in the entire Philippines. This fish port hosts the largest fish brokers and provides berthing and selling grounds for the largest fishing vessel operators in the Philippines, Asia, and Papua New Guinea. Over the years, however, the GSFPC facilities and equipment have undergone the usual wear and tear and need to be rehabilitated and upgraded. This is important not only to meet the growing demand for the services of the Complex but also to comply with international standards for post harvest processing and export. 

PRIMEX conducted the feasibility study to measure the economic and financial viability of the proposed improvement and expansion of the GSFPC. In the course of the study, the project consultant team conducted real-time surveys and investigations to assess the present status of the fish port’s infrastructure, post-harvest facilities, and fishing methodologies within the Saranggani Bay. The team’s Market Planner, Dr. Flor Lantican, determined the projection of fish landings for the next 10 years, which became the basis for the vessel traffic projections led by the team’s economist and financial analyst, Ms. Kathy Yambao. It is also during this study that a value engineering/value analysis was conducted to assess various design options and to determine the most optimal design for port efficiency and to prepare the GSFPC as a globally competitive fish port.

“This project has some ‘sentimental value’ for PRIMEX because PRIMEX was the national associate of Singconsult, the Singaporean consulting firm that was awarded the contract for the Feasibility Study on the Proposed General Santos Agro Processing Center (GSAPC), way back in 1991, which was funded by the Trade Development Board (TDB) of Singapore.”

Ms. Elvira C. Ablaza, PRIMEX President and CEO and Team Leader/Project Manager for Phase II

The Consultant Team members include the following:  Mr. Guillermo L. Morales (Phase I)/Ms. Elvira C. Ablaza (Phase II), Team Leader/Project Manager; Engr. Celedonia Aclao, Port Planner/Civil Engineer; Engr. Lowell Rigunay, Plant Mechanical Engineer; Dr. Flordeliza A. Lantican, Market Planner; Ms. Kathryn Lynn Yambao, Economist/Financial Analyst; Ms. Christine Izha Lao, Social Development and Gender Specialist; Mr. Joselito Losaria, Environment Specialist; Dr. Jose A. Ingles, Fisheries Specialist;  Dr. Encarnacion Emilia Yap, Postharvest Specialist; and  Mr. Md. Azmi Bin Baba, VE/VA Specialist. Backstopping support was provided by Ms. Ana A. Baluyut, Project Coordinator, and Ms. Rhiz Kathleen Contreras, Project Assistant.


with report from Mr. Rhiz Kathleen Contreras, Project Assistant

cover photo: main gate of the GSFPC, photo courtesy of Engr. Cely Aclao