Posted on July 21, 2015 09:14:00 PM
By Louine Hope Conserva, Correspondent
ILOILO CITY -- The local government of Antique wants the Panian open-cut coal mine of Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) closed, claiming that the area is already “over-mined”.
Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao said in a media briefing that it is time to give up the Panian pit following the collapse of the northern side on July 17, leaving nine workers either dead or presumed dead “Mother Earth is... giving a signal, ‘that’s enough’ because it is already over-mined. It is already two and a half kilometers below sea level,” Ms. Cadiao said.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council also passed a resolution last July 19 recommending the total closure of the open pit located in Semirara Island.
Operations at the SMPC mine were suspended by the Department of Energy (DoE) immediately after the incident last Friday while the Environmental Management Bureau-Region 6 (EMB-6) is expected to issue a cease and desist order this week.
An EMB team, led by Regional Director Jonathan P. Bulos, conducted an inspection of the area yesterday to evaluate environmental compliance on the part of SMPC.
The EMB Central Office issued the first ECC for the Panian area on Aug. 12, 1999 and an amended ECC was released on Nov. 27, 2009 to cover both the Panian and East Panian sites.
“DoE issued a suspension of their (SMPC’s) operation in relation to their mandate as they (DoE) were the ones who issued the mine contract. The cease and desist order that I will issue is in relation to the ECC. Although the ECC was issued by the Central Office, I also have an authority under the existing guidelines,” Mr. Bulos said.
The Coal Operating Contract from DoE was originally good until July 2012, but an extension issued in 2008 granted SMPC the exclusive right to mine in Semirara until July 14, 2027, based on the SMPC Web site.
Another mining site on the island, Himalian, with coal as well as limestone and silica, has yet to be opened by SMPC, which currently supplies for about 90% of the country’s coal requirements.
“There are two events that could drive the opening of Himalian mine: when demand for local coal exceeds 5 million MTs (metric tons) per year or when the demand for cement goes up to justify putting up a cement plant. The ideal setup in opening Himalian mine is to put up a cement plant right beside the pit since the overburden of Himalian is mainly limestone and silica, two major components of cement,” SMPC said in its FAQ Web page.
Ms. Cadiao said what the government wants closed in particular is the Panian pit.
“I compromise the economic gains that the province is getting over the lives of Antiqueños,” the governor said.
The province is receiving P128 million in taxes yearly from the mining project.
“I am not business-oriented. I know a lot of workers will lose their jobs and there are economic benefits for the province. But I cannot compromise the lives lost in the area. Maybe in the future the same incident will happen,” she added.
This is the second collapse at the Panian mining site. The first was in 2013 on the west side, where five miners were killed.
The whole Panian area covers about 4,000 hectares with 1,000 hectares on the east side planned as an expansion area.
Ms. Cadiao declined to comment about the liability of SMPC, a subsidiary of DMCI Holdings, Inc., for the incident and the ensuing deaths. source
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