By JUNE S. BLANCO

AN “AGROPOLIS” will soon rise in Bohol's 2nd District.

This after Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado, together with Malaysian investors Bionas, led switching on ceremonies in Dagohoy town Thursday for a jatropha press mill, processing plants for both jatropha and seaweeds (guso), townhouse type resorts – with a stadium, commercial centers, recreational centers, clubhouse and swimming pool, airport and seaport – in an agriculture-oriented metropolis hence, agropolis. Studies have shown that jatropha – tuba-tuba or kasla in the dialect and guso – are top producers of biodiesel or “green” fuel that minimizes carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the exhaust pipes of engines caused mainly by partial combustion.

Aumentado said from Dagohoy, the jatropha extract will be brought to Ubay town where the processing plant will be located. The same holds true for the seaweeds, considering that Ubay has seaports viable for expansion when the time comes, and an airport waiting for development. The solon said the project will provide additional income for rice, corn and coconut farmers. These are the staple crops of Bohol while jatropha remains to be considered a wild plant and used as a quack doctor's favorite prescription for a range of maladies. On the other hand, guso will provide additional income for fishermen. In both cases, the Malaysian investors will provide competitive buying prices – higher than the going rates, he added.

He said the resort will construct an initial 303 rooms – targeting 3,000 rooms in five years. The Bionas investors – coming from 49 countries – will be required to visit the agropolis at least once a year. Under the time sharing concept, they will be staying in their choice of rooms in the resort that they financed. The rooms will be rented out to transients when they return to their respective mother countries where they will campaign for tourists and vacationers. Aumentado said top architectural firms will be presenting their designs for the biggest hotel cum resort by next month for the investors to choose from so that construction can start next year. He also assured his constituents that the laborers, hotel/resort staff including the cooks, chambermaids and even managers – if they qualify – will be taken from the local work force.