To boost food security in the town and support local farmers, Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC) handed over a P22-million rice mill complex facility to the Claver Red Mountain Cooperative (CREMACO) last Sept. 6 in Claver town, Surigao del Norte province.
The rice mill complex, to be situated in Barangay Daywan, is equipped with a milling building, a mechanical dyer, a warehouse, and a parking space for hauling operations.
TMC Community Relations Manager Mark Vincent Junel Felias said the facility will benefit CREMACO's 35 farmer-members from the town's six non-mining barangays.
The initiative, he said, is proof that partnerships between local people's organizations and private companies can create positive change for the community.
“The engagement with CREMACO started in 2017 through the strengthening of their organization and as part of the corporate social responsibility of the company. The rice farmers in the town are part of the stakeholders of the company,” he said.
In 2019, TMC provided the group with farm equipment composed of a rice harvester, a tractor, two transplanters, and a single-pass milling machine.
According to Felias, CREMACO has been supplying TMC direct employees and contractors with rice since 2019. Not only does this help the cooperative secure a sure market, but also allowed it to raise its income over the years.
CREMACO, in turn, donated a one-hectare plot of land worth P8 million where the rice mill complex is being housed. The land was paid by the cooperative on installment with payments coming from the income of their rice trading and retailing business.
Joel Oinal, CREMACO chair, acknowledged TMC for its continued support to the cooperative.
With the rice mill facility, he said the cooperative can further expand its markets and increase production.
“Nagpapasalamat kami na binigyan kami nitong malaking proyekto para umasenso ang aming kooperatiba. Ang Taganito Mining walang tigil talaga ang suporta,” Oinal added.
TMC is a subsidiary of natural resources development firm Nickel Asia Corporation, the country’s largest producer of lateritic nickel ore.
