Romero coal operations have no clearance–LLDA

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FRIDAY, 06 JULY 2012 00:53 JONATHAN L. MAYUGA / REPORTER

The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) is combing port operations along Manila Bay as part of its investigation of the reported stockpiles of coal at the Manila Harbour Centre and Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI) along Manila Bay.

Carlo Religioso, chief of staff of LLDA Secretary Nerius Acosta, said Reghis Romero’s company as well as all other port operators along Manila Bay would be accorded due process of law.

Religioso said that since Agham Party-list Rep. Angelo Palmones’s exposé on Monday, the LLDA has started inspecting port facilities along Manila Bay.  He said the LLDA team assigned is taking photographs of stockpiles of coal that would be used in their report.

According to Religioso, the LLDA’s Legal department is thoroughly looking into what legal actions to take. 

LLDA has jurisdiction over Laguna de Bay, the country’s biggest freshwater lake and potentially the biggest supply of potable water in the future.  The Maynilad Water is already tapping water from the lake, which is directly connected to Manila Bay via the Pasig River.  Its mandate includes the protection of the water of the 90,000-hectare lake from potential sources of pollution, such as coal.

“What we have established is that all of these locators have no LLDA clearance to operate [coal dumping] and this has corresponding penalty.  With regards to the issuance of a cease-and-desist order [CDO], we have to follow due process as stated by the clean water act and LLDA mandate before we issue CDOs,” he said.

Hopefully, he said the LLDA will come up with the CDO within the week, as instructed by Acosta.

The coal operation of Romero’s company was revealed by Palmones on Monday. He expressed fears the stockpiles of coal expose the public to health risks and polluted the waters of the Manila Bay.

He also noted that there is a continuing order of the Supreme Court for concerned government agencies to clean up and rehabilitate the Manila Bay.

On Wednesday when asked to react to the snail-paced action of concerned government officials to stop the coal operations of Romero’s firms, he said: “This only proves that our environment is in big danger with government officials who refuse to do their job and won’t implement the laws.  Whom do we call now, the Avengers?”

Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje on Tuesday ordered the LLDA to issue a cease-and-desist order to stop the coal operations of Manila Habour Centre and Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI).

He also said asked the head of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau for the NCR Office, Roberto Sheen to explain the presence of the “mountain of coal” there.

It was the DENR-EMB’s NCR Office that approved the environmental clearance certificate of Romero’s company, allowing it to stockpile 40,000 metric tons (and 40 MT, as earlier reported) of coal.

The HCPTI, meanwhile, denied it was engaged in any coal stockpiling activity. In a statement, it said it never owned nor operated a site in Manila’s Port Area. “That area and its stockpile of coal are neither part of the HCPTI nor owned and being operated by the HCPTI.  The facility is situated inside an exclusive industrial complex and almost 5 kilometers from the nearest residential area. The impact of its coal handling and storage operations on the residents of Vitas, if any, is absolutely nil,” it added.     source

(With Lenie Lectura)