Business World Online
Posted on June 08, 2011 09:25:15 PM
BY JOEL B. ESCOVILLA
DAVAO CITY -- Aboitiz Power Corp.’s plans to build a 300-megawatt, coal-fired power plant here has been granted endorsement by nearly all local councilors, thus paving the way for permits from the mayor and other state agencies to be released.
The city council also approved a corollary resolution on first reading that amends the site’s zoning to accommodate the power plant.
All but one councilor endorsed the P25-billion project at Tuesday’s regular session.
Councilor Pilar C. Braga, the proponent of the resolution and chairperson of the energy committee, said the approval was based on the following grounds and preconditions:
• the power crisis Mindanao faces is real;
• modern technology will mitigate the perceived negative impact of the coal plant;
• coal as fuel is cheaper compared with solar, wind and hydro energy;
• the quality of groundwater and seawater will not be compromised;
• creation of a multipartite monitoring team, headed by the city government, will constantly evaluate the project from construction to operation;
• any threat will be monitored in real time and prevented through a foolproof mechanism; and
• steady and stable power supply will attract more investors to the city.
The lone dissenter, Leah A. Librado, said: “On the grounds of health and environment, I firmly believe that the project is not good for the city and not good regardless of where you put it.”
Ms. Librado said she will instead resort to just monitoring the plant’s strict compliance with all laws.
“One violation will definitely earn the ire of the council,” Ms. Librado said.
The endorsement comes on top of the city council’s decision to reclassify Barangay Binugao from a medium industrial to a protected heavy industrial zone to accommodate the construction of the power plant which is expected to be completed in three years.
The municipal legislative council of Sta. Cruz, for its part, had given the company permission on March 30 to build a warehouse and port as well.
This, as the plant will cut across two jurisdictions: Davao City and Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Ms. Braga went on to require Aboitiz Power to submit subsequent documents on the plant design to determine the carbon emissions.
Such will guide computations for the number of trees the firm has to plant to offset the emissions, she said.
Vice-Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, meanwhile, said that the council’s approval does not mean local authorities are giving up on protecting the site’s environment.
“Even without the stringent requirements of international bodies, the mayor with her vast powers can protect the health and peace and order,” he said, adding that the chief executive can stop the operations of the plant if the company is found to have violated the city’s environmental laws.
Manuel M. Orig, Aboitiz Power first vice-president for Mindanao, said experts commissioned by the company for its environmental impact statement are expected to present results soon. Aboitiz Power hired Apercu Consultants, Inc. to make the study as a requirement for its environmental compliance certificate application with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The environmental group NO to Coal Davao, meanwhile, slammed councilors for the endorsement.
“This is an injustice to Davaoeños given that Aboitiz’s coal-fired power plant is an environmentally critical project,” group convenor Jean Suzanne A. Lindo said, noting the massive water requirements needed by the project.
All but one councilor endorsed the P25-billion project at Tuesday’s regular session.
Councilor Pilar C. Braga, the proponent of the resolution and chairperson of the energy committee, said the approval was based on the following grounds and preconditions:
• the power crisis Mindanao faces is real;
• modern technology will mitigate the perceived negative impact of the coal plant;
• coal as fuel is cheaper compared with solar, wind and hydro energy;
• the quality of groundwater and seawater will not be compromised;
• creation of a multipartite monitoring team, headed by the city government, will constantly evaluate the project from construction to operation;
• any threat will be monitored in real time and prevented through a foolproof mechanism; and
• steady and stable power supply will attract more investors to the city.
The lone dissenter, Leah A. Librado, said: “On the grounds of health and environment, I firmly believe that the project is not good for the city and not good regardless of where you put it.”
Ms. Librado said she will instead resort to just monitoring the plant’s strict compliance with all laws.
“One violation will definitely earn the ire of the council,” Ms. Librado said.
The endorsement comes on top of the city council’s decision to reclassify Barangay Binugao from a medium industrial to a protected heavy industrial zone to accommodate the construction of the power plant which is expected to be completed in three years.
The municipal legislative council of Sta. Cruz, for its part, had given the company permission on March 30 to build a warehouse and port as well.
This, as the plant will cut across two jurisdictions: Davao City and Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Ms. Braga went on to require Aboitiz Power to submit subsequent documents on the plant design to determine the carbon emissions.
Such will guide computations for the number of trees the firm has to plant to offset the emissions, she said.
Vice-Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, meanwhile, said that the council’s approval does not mean local authorities are giving up on protecting the site’s environment.
“Even without the stringent requirements of international bodies, the mayor with her vast powers can protect the health and peace and order,” he said, adding that the chief executive can stop the operations of the plant if the company is found to have violated the city’s environmental laws.
Manuel M. Orig, Aboitiz Power first vice-president for Mindanao, said experts commissioned by the company for its environmental impact statement are expected to present results soon. Aboitiz Power hired Apercu Consultants, Inc. to make the study as a requirement for its environmental compliance certificate application with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The environmental group NO to Coal Davao, meanwhile, slammed councilors for the endorsement.
“This is an injustice to Davaoeños given that Aboitiz’s coal-fired power plant is an environmentally critical project,” group convenor Jean Suzanne A. Lindo said, noting the massive water requirements needed by the project.
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