QUEZON CITY, (PIA) -- The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) is gradually moving its Central Office into one of the buildings in the Fisheries Building Complex—the agency’s newly constructed headquarters that will soon house all of its frontline and support services.
BFAR’s new headquarters, which now stands inside the Bureau of Plant Industry Compound in Brgy. Vasra, Visayas Avenue, is a couple of meters away from the Philippine Coconut Authority, the agency’s home for many years.
“Ang ganda ng ating opisina, ang ganda ng ating mga laboratoryo. Whatever is part of this ecosystem in the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources facility is giving you the best environment to really work harder and harder and harder. I know that the men and women of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources are very dedicated, hardworking and really can produce results. We just have to continue to have good focus on the things that we have to do and thing that we must do because that would bring BFAR to the high level of growth development,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said during the building’s inauguration on July 21, 2021.
Dar said that while developing the fisheries sector remains a challenge, the sector’s contribution can become much higher if its potential is unleashed through relevant programs and projects.
DA-BFAR’s more spacious premises will accommodate more clients and increase their satisfaction by promoting one-stop in all fisheries-related services. At present, several of BFAR’s divisions and units are already occupying some of the spaces in the new building while a few more including some of its support and frontline services such as fisheries regulatory and licensing, inspection and quarantine will follow suit in the coming months.
Upon completion of the other buildings which make up the Fisheries Complex, BFAR’s fisheries laboratory services will also relocate in the area. For now, the laboratory services will stay in their current location at Arcadia Building along Quezon Avenue.
Due to the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, BFAR encourages distant processing of fisheries requirements but clients and the general public who will visit BFAR’s offices are assured that basic health protocols and standards are practiced inside the premises.
The Fisheries Complex, a project that broke ground in 2012, will also house the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, BFAR’s primary research arm. With these two key government agencies on fisheries under the Department of Agriculture now built within the same area, improved operational efficiency that would benefit the fisheries sector is expected from the said offices.
Meanwhile, as BFAR eases into its new headquarters, the agency will set up temporary communication lines for its clients and the general public. These will be posted on the BFAR’s official social media accounts and website.
