Out-of-school youth to benefit from opening of shipyard in Bohol

 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) -- Out-of-school youth and young men whose hopes of a good life have been dashed by poverty will soon be donning hard hats, safety shoes, and thick gloves. 

This comes after Artemis Marine Industrial Construction Inc. (AMICI) opened its first two hectares of shipyard in Brgy. Cruz, Buenavista, Bohol, and launched its technical and vocational skills training school at the Buenavista Training Center. 

The shipyard is set to hire Boholano out-of-school youth and men from poor backgrounds so they can provide for their families. 

The training center can also equip these young men who have abandoned their hopes of a good life, with the skills needed in boat building and repair, said Primary Group of Builders Chief Executive Officer William Christopher Liu, Jr.

“We prefer going to less fortunate and less developed areas so we could bring employment, where there is none,” said Liu, whose family also owns Primary Homes and the Maayo business subsidiaries. 

He was speaking to a crowd of local officials and AMICI workers who gathered during the launching ceremony. 

“The shipyard that features heavy industrial equipment for boatbuilding and repair also presents itself as a learning area for their trained cadets, whom the company intends to field out to domestic and international vessels needing in-house repair teams,” according to Bohol Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Provincial Director Engr. Winefredo Salas Jr. 

“Most of these workers dreamt of studying nautical and maritime courses as most young ambitious Boholanos would study for four years at the city’s Philippine Maritime Institute. But without the resources, they end up without the technical skills that can land them in some work,” Liu explained.

For the four years that these youth missed in formal school, AMICI is offering six months of intensive military-fashioned training for marine cadets.

“The six months of training allows the young men to earn their seamanship book,” said Buenavista Mayor Dave Duallo. 

He thanked AMICI for coming to Buenavista and bringing in multi-million investments while lauding the company’s labor-intensive investments. 

The mayor said AMICI is in operation 24/7, with three shifts that employ around 400 local workers, of which 80% are from Buenavista. 

On the other hand, Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado, who was guest of honor during the ceremonies, said AMICI’s plan fits with his Economic Zone Development blueprint, which he passed as a congressman then. 

Aumentado said the blueprint covers the towns of  Inabanga, Buenavista, Getafe, Talibon, Trinidad, and Ubay as growth nerve centers in northeastern Bohol. 

“This is the area needing most help. These towns facing Cebu and their viability as an expansion area, we want to invite more investors to come here,” Aumentado said. 

He also lauded AMICI for their plan to create in the area a maritime hub and a maritime city that would be the first in the region. (RMN/RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)