Hanjin resumes Philippine project

South Korea?s Hanjin Heavy Industries Construction Co. Ltd. will resume its $2-billion shipyard project at the Philippine Veterans Investments and Development Corp. (Phividec) industrial estate in the first quarter of 2009.

Initial development of the 500-hectare Hanjin shipyard complex was suspended in April following a row with local government officials in Misamis Oriental. “Everything is ready, construction of the shipyard starts before March 2009,” said Ninfa Along-Albania, administrator of the Phividec Industrial Authority. Hanjin was earlier reported to have been scouting for alternative sites in Northern Mindanao and the Davao region, a report that the government had denied.

Phividec was relocating residents who will be affected by the construction of the Korean shipyard and the agency targets to fully relocate residents living on the project site by the end of November. Local government officials from Tagoloan and Villanueva earlier alleged they had been bribed by the Korean firm to allow the development of the site to continue without permits. Mayor Paulino Y. Emano of Tagoloan later recanted, claiming they had misunderstood the Hanjin executives during a meeting.