Business Mirror
MONDAY, 26 MARCH 2012 20:13 BONG GARCIA JR. / CORRESPONDENT
ZAMBOANGA CITY—An official of the Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD) expressed anxiety over the construction of a coal-fired power plant that may contaminate this city’s watershed.
ZCWD Assistant General Manager Engineer. Alejo Rojas has noted that the 100-megawatt coal-fired power plant to be established by the San Ramon Power Inc. (SRPI) is very near the watershed area—where the city gets its water supply—and is even being opposed by the officials of Barangay Talisayan where it will be constructed.
The coal-fired power plant is set in a 60-hectare area of the Zamboanga Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (Ecozone) in Sitio San Ramon, Barangay Talisayan, 26 kilometers west of this city.
The construction of the plant is scheduled to start next year and will be completed in 2015.
Rojas said one of the things they are seriously looking at is the effect of the ash from the plant that may fall at the catchment area of the watershed.
Rojas said that part of the ash-fall will still reach the watershed though the SRPI officials are saying that the coal-fired power plant is safe.
“That is the reason why we are seriously looking into the adverse effects of the drops of ash-fall in the watershed area as this could contaminate the water thus affecting the health of the drinking public,” Rojas explained.
“Of course the effects will not be known yet if the coal-fired power plant is operating from one to 10 years. We will feel the effects of the water deterioration several years later,” Rojas said.
Talisayan Barangay Chairman Josephine Pareja said they are in favor of renewable energy citing environmental concerns.
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