Victorias Milling Co. will begin milling operations on Wednesday, August 30, despite a fire that hit some of its facilities on Sunday evening, VMC President Linley Retirado assured planter stakeholders on Tuesday.
VMC, the biggest sugar refinery in the country located in Victorias City, Negros Occidental, will begin accepting canes at 7 a.m. on Wednesday as scheduled, he said.
“We will stand by our commitment to join all sugar industry stakeholders to open the milling season on September 1,” Retirado said, adding that this was relayed by management to Sugar Regulatory Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona.
Azcona visited VMC on Monday morning to assess the situation.
“Initial reports show that the fire consumed the mill’s adjacent support facilities such as the clinic, the instrumentation office and the roof of the warehouse, thus opening the mill as scheduled can be done since we are currently doing cleanup of the fire site to ease traffic flow when milling begins”, Retirado said.
VMC is thankful for the immediate response of fire personnel and the help and support of Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) and other local government units that came to their aid, Retirado said.
“This rapid response led to the immediate containment of the fire and we are very much grateful,” Retirado said.*