‘Cyber center to generate
5,240 jobs, P14B income’
SP working on win-win solution for loans
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The Negros First Cyber Center in Bacolod City, when completed next year, is expected to generate 5,250 business process outsourcing jobs for Negrenses and close to P14 billion in salaries over a 15-year period, Negros Occidental Board Member Salvador Escalante said yesterday.

Escalante, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee on Finance, said five call center firms have already signified interest in renting space at the provincial government-built cyber center.

The income from the rent of the cyber center building is expected to be about P50 million on the first year, and will increase every three years, enabling it to pay for itself in 10 years, he said.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental yesterday passed a resolution creating a task force that will negotiate with the Philippine National Bank in Bacolod City, for the use of its vacant space, by three Capitol departments.

The decision was made after the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee on Finance recommended that, instead, of allocating P50 million for the construction of a three-storey Provincial Administration Center annex building, as proposed by Governor Alfredo Maranon Jr., the provincial government will negotiate with PNB, that stands on Capitol property, to utilize its empty spaces.

Board Member Salvador Escalante, who chairs the Finance committee, said they decided to look for an alternative, as they find reasonable to spend less for renovation, instead of the requested amount.

The head office of the Commission on Audit in Manila remained mum yesterday on its reported approval of the Negros Occidental provincial government contracts for the sale and lease of its 7.7-hectare prime property in Bacolod City to AyalaLand Inc. in mid-August .

The DAILY STAR yesterday tried to interview COA Commissioner Heidi Mendoza, OIC head of the Commission, while its chairman, Ma. Gracia Pulido Tan, is abroad.

The secretary at Mendoza’s office, however, said all interviews had to pass through their Public Information Office so the COA chairman could be informed.