RBOI okays P831-M power project in Tawi-Tawi

COTABATO CITY– The Regional Board of Investments of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (RBOI-ARMM), during a joint meeting of its Board of Governors and its Management Committee, approved on Tuesday, October 24, the application of Kaltimex Rural Energy Corp. for an eight-megawatt energy project worth P831 million located in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.With its RBOI registration, the project would be able to avail of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives provided by the government. Once completed, the project would provide 24/7 electricity to the province through the Tawi-Tawi Electric Cooperative, Inc.Officials of Kaltimex, which specializes in providing power to off-grid areas, said they will also be expanding their operations in the island provinces of Basilan and Sulu. Owned 99.99% and .01% by Filipino and Indian investors respectively, the company said the Tawi-Tawi project would initially generate 34 jobs.Lawyer Ishak V. Mastura, chairman and managing head of RBOI, said the registration of Kaltimex is very timely since up to 70% of households in the ARMM has problems related to access to electricity.ARMM is in dire need of power especially in the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi where residents experience frequent rotational brownouts due to power shortage. The company’s expansion plans would address the power crisis in the region. On the positive side, it is a huge investment for those in the power business.The region is the least penetrated market for energy-related projects in the Philippines.The Kaltimex project in Tawi-Tawi should encourage more investors to come and invest in ARMM not only on energy but should open up new agri-fishery, processing and manufacturing projects as well, RBOI Chairman Mastura further said.When asked to comment about the project, ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman said it was only this month that President Duterte visited the region, in particular Lamitan in Basilan wherein he heard about the perennial power problem in ARMM’s island provinces.The Kaltimex investment in Tawi-Tawi, he said, is in response to this development challenge noting the national government will continue to promote investments in ARMM in the energy sector and in livelihood-generating industries. The Kaltimex investment offering stable power supply is a milestone in the Duterte administration since this could support a growing economy towards dynamic trade, tourism, investments, development of infrastructures and increase household incomes, Gov. Hataman added. This year, RBOI has registered so far a total of P2.1 billion worth of projects.