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By Ma. Ester L. Espina, Correspondent
BACOLOD CITY: Power company, Energy Development
Corp. (EDC) urged environmentalists to respect the law allowing them
to conduct geothermal development expansion at the buffer zone of
Mount Kanlaon Natural Park. The company aims to provide Negros
Occidental with sufficient energy within a couple of years.
The province has recently experienced constant
power outages during peak demands and based on the projections of
energy providers, it will have a power crisis by 2010.
The EDC statement was in reaction to the class
suit filed by environmentalists and their sympathizers seeking a
temporary restraining order against the power company’s entry to
the buffer zone.
The class suit will include children including 7
months old, Daniel Coruna, the youngest respondent in the case.
“While we respect their right to file a TRO,
we implore them to just stick to the facts,” Engr. Gino de la
Cruz, resident manager of EDC at its Northern Negros Geothermal
Production Field said.
de la Cruz was referring to Republic Act 9154
that created the buffer zone, primarily to allow geothermal
exploration.
“If we are genuinely concerned for the common
good, we should help in solving the problem instead of aggravating
the situation,” de la Cruz added.
“I understand that the opposing coalition was
able to gather more than a hundred signatures to support their case.
This is clearly a last ditch effort that was designed to deflect our
attention from the main issues at hand. These signatures are
certainly not representative of Negros Occidental’s close to 2.8
million residents. They should not be used to determine the future
of the entire province,” de la Cruz said.
Environmentalists have opposed EDC’s entry in
the 169-hectares buffer zone because it will constitute cutting down
about 4,000 trees to pave the way for the well pads of the power
company.
EDC has however clarified that they will only be
cutting 34 big trees, contrary to the text messages being circulated
by the opposition. The company has also been granted tree-cutting
permit by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
de la Cruz reiterated
that EDC’s entry to the buffer zone has undergone several levels
of review by the Department of Energy, DENR, Mount Kitanglad Natural
Park, Prosecution and Monitoring Bureau, Non-government Agencies,
the local government and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan from 1986 to
2008. “We sought their concurrence every step of the way since we
expressed our intention of putting up a geothermal facility in the
province. Any approving body could have disapproved our project and
entry to the buffer zone if they were illegal but no entity did,”
de la Cruz stressed.
Earlier, Sen. Pia Cayetano also called for a
senate inquiry into the matter after the local governments and
various stakeholders have endorsed the project. The business
community has slammed the senator for interfering in local
governance and dared her to provide Negros with power in two years
time.
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