3 city councilors won't join visit to coal-fired power plant in Taiwan
Three members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod turned down the invitation of Formosa Heavy Industries Inc. (FHI) to visit Taiwan next week relative to the proposal of the Global Business Power Corporation (GBPC) to construct a 100 megawatts coal-fired power plant in Iloilo City.
Councilors Perla Zulueta, Erwin Plagata and ex-officio Councilor Stevie Rey Abitang have already decided not to join the 11 other councilors. The 11 councilors along with Vice Mayor Jed Mabilog are now working on their travel documents for their trip set on September 14-16, 2007.
The invitation for the members of the city council to Taiwan was made by FHI senior administrator Feng-In Hong. It was addressed to Mabilog. Hong said the tour which is all expense paid by the FHI would be most beneficial to the council in doing an actual inspection of the the FHI's coal-fired power plants and fabrication-site shops on site."
The FHI is the mother company of the Asia Pacific Energy Corporation (APEC). APEC will provide technical assistance to the GBPC on the plan, design, procurement, consultation and commissioning of a coal-fired power plant. The plant design for Iloilo City is still under wraps. It was learned that the plant would cost $US150 million. APEC is operating a cogen plant inside the TECO Special Economic Zone in Mabalacat, Pampanga. Cogen means cogeneration. It is a facility that generates electricity for power and extract steam for re-use.
The trip of the members of the City Council to Taiwan is only one of the series of trips prepared by the proponent. The first group to avail of the trip to the proponent's coal-fired power plant in Pampanga were the punong barangays in Jaro and La Paz. The second batch were composed of the technical group headed by City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) chief Engr. Noel Hechanova. The recent group to visit the APEC coal-fired power plant are representatives from the media.