THE Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), through the Sustainable Logistics Development Program (SLDP), is working on the creation of a website that will enhance the promotion of the Road Roro Terminal System (RRTS).
At the recently concluded 29th Philippine Business Conference at the Manila Hotel, DBP president and chief operating officer Simon R. Paterno said the website, to be dubbed GoPhilippines, will serve as an internet-based reservation and ticketing system for the RRTS.
“Through this site, entrepreneurs, passengers and even farmers and manufacturers can make reservations to ensure the on-time delivery of their produce,” Paterno said. The site contains information on and reservations for ro-ro operations, cargo truck operations, bus operations, and even hotels and restaurant. “This will give people faster and reliable access to travelling or transporting goods via ro-ro ships,” he said. The site will display the most viable travel routes after the user chooses his origin, desired destination, date and time of departure and arrival.
DBP is looking at launching GoPhilippines before the year ends.
Meanwhile, private sector investment for the RRTS is now at P70 million while projects in the pipeline for the bulk grains highway project is at P2.5 billion, Paterno said. “We are already starting to process documents for the loan. Once the money is rolled out, we expect projects and investments to come one after another,” he said.
He noted one of the biggest problems in the RRTS project is the availability of ships that match the requirements of the project. “Even from major sources of second-hand ships like Japan and North Europe, we are having a hard time locating these ships,” he said. – Marirtess R. Mesias
