By Maria Elena Catajan
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- The Kapangan–Coheco hydroelectric project will advance will now undergo a consolidation process, said National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) regional director Sancho Buquing.
Buquing said the final consolidation process will follow after the successful memorandum of agreement signing is tackled by a regional review board for scrutiny.
He assured there will still be time to fill in final corrections from the people concerns they still have on the Korean led project.
The final consolidation stages will still undergo extensive review from the office of Buquing as well as an executive screening by the NCIP.
“There will still be room for review, it is still a process,” he said.
Kapangan elders earlier gave their nod to the 120 megawatt (MW) plant.
Coheco is set to install a run-of-river mini hydro power plant by tapping waters of the Amburayan River. It plans to build a weir at Barangay Cuba, with the water to be conveyed by a 7.5-kilometer tunnel passing through parts of barangays Pudong, Sagubo then to Gaddang.
Previously, opposition groups for the project fear loss of water in the area, an effect; the tunneling is feared to create.
Buquing said community fears can still be put in the final stages of the consolidation before endorsing the project to the main office of the NCIP for final deliberation.
In the final deliberation Indigenous Peoples representatives will still be called to air reaming concerns for the project.
Alternatives in the tunneling have been suggested to be presented to Kapangan folk, in order to appease fears and get more people to agree to the project.
If there are valid concerns and setbacks seen in this phase, the NCIP will direct the company to go back to complete all requirements and concerns anew. source
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