By | Feb. 05, 2014 at 12:01am
SIBALE ISLAND, Romblon—Fishermen in this small island in central Philippines complained that a gas pipeline going through its territorial waters create vibrations and strange sounds that drive fish away, depriving them of their livelihood, officials said.
Nimrod Yagoya, head of the Sibale Island Bantay Dagat, said the Malampaya gas pipeline traverse through the rich fishing ground of Tablas Strait, Sibuyan Sea and the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan) region.
“The Malampaya pipeline is driving away fish from our municipal waters,” Yagoya said.
About half of the 500-kilometer Malampaya natural gas pipeline runs through the area from its production rig off Palawan to its processing plant in Batangas City. The pipeline belongs to Shell Philippines Exploration B.V.
The pipeline covers the entire coastal towns of Oriental Mindoro, from the Puerto Galera in the north to Bulalacao municipality in the south. In Pinamalayan town in Oriental Mindoro, the distance of the pipeline to the shore is about 10 kms and only about six kms to the Sibale shorelines.
Sibale Mayor Lemuel Cipriano said the Department of Energy has banned fishermen from getting near the pipeline and other boats were prohibited to drop anchor within a 500 meter radius.
“Majority of the 4,500 population of Sibale are fishermen. The pipeline has been causing a lot of problems for them,” he said.
The company, through its social arm, the Malampaya Development Foundation, promised to provide fishermen with 200 small motor engines so they can go outside of the Tablas Strait and the Sibuyan Sea, which are not affected by the pipeline vibrations and noise.
“The motor engines, which were promised last year, did not arrive. But the foundation brought trainors on bio-organic farming, which they did not need because they are fishermen not farmers,” Cipriano said.
“Training them to become farmers will not happen overnight. Their love for the sea is deeply rooted,” he said. source
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