By Fernan Angeles
IN an effort to ensure a safe Navotas Fish Port Complex, the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) and the Navotas City government sealed a partnership that would see the facility undergo a regular sanitation holiday to prevent the spread of the highly-infectious coronavirus disease.
At its 44th anniversary, the city government and PFDA personnel donned personal protective gears and cleaned up the fish port complex.
The clean-up activity started back in March this year, said PFDA executive Atty. Glen Pangapalan, as he issued marching orders to the agency’s regional operating units to implement stringent precautionary measures on COVID-19 prevention. The monthly general cleaning and disinfection activity is a major part of the NFPC’s “New Normal and Innovative Business As Usual Operation.”
Navotas City Mayor Tobias Tiangco, various NFPC stakeholders and other government agencies/units, have actively supported the conduct of the monthly activity.
As in the previous months, among those participating in today’s activity are fish producers, fish brokers/traders, as well as the PNP-Regional Maritime Unit (NCR), the Philippine Coast Guard, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and Navotas-LGU units such as the CDRRMO, Brgy. North Bay Boulevard North (NBBN) and Brgy. North Bay Boulevard South (NBBS).
Since the COVID-19 outbreak in March this year and the subsequent community quarantine, the NFPC management has been implementing health and safety protocols to curb the spread of infection within the port premises.
The major initiatives undertaken include the installation of isolation and sanitary misting tents; conduct of mandatory thermal scanning upon entry into the complex and random scanning at the Market Halls; regular announcements at the market halls regarding health and safety protocols; conduct of orientation sessions on health and safety measures for batillos and other market participants; rapid testing for NFPC employees; and, mandatory wearing of face masks, face shields, gloves and other appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) by the NFPC employees, port workers and fish buyers/sellers.
The NFPC is the premiere fish center of the Philippines, supplying about 70 percent of fish products in Metro Manila and the nearby provinces. It deals with the unloading and marketing of fish both from commercial and municipal fishing vessels; provides facilities for harbor operations, refrigeration and fish processing operations; and, disseminates information on fish prices and species processed inside the port.
The Navotas Fish Port Complex is centrally located within a five-kilometer radius of the cities of Manila, Quezon, Caloocan, Navotas, and Malabon, and is only ten minutes away from Divisoria, the country’s bargain center.