Presidential Ass't endorses coal-fired power plant
Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Raul Banias has openly endorsed the proposed establishment of coal-fired power plants in Iloilo City and in the municipality of Concepcion.
Banias, in a statement, said that he sees no reason why "we would not accept a project vital to our economic development."
Global Power Business Corporation is proposing a 100 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Brgy. Ingore, La Paz district while DM Consunji Inc. is planning to put up 100 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Concepcion, Iloilo.
A former mayor himself, Banias said that Iloilo City, in particular, and Panay, in general, continues to suffer from power deficiency brought about by lack of capacity in the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) grid.
He said government agencies and instrumentalities mandated to oversee, study and implement the national policies on energy such as the Department of Energy, the Energy Regulatory Commission, National Power Corp. and National Transmission Corp. have come up with factual and conclusive findings on the tight power supply scenario in the CNP grid.
He said, if no new capacities will be constructed, Panay, being at the tail-end of the grid, will surely suffer from crippling power in 2010.
Banias observed that at present electric cooperatives in the provinces of Panay have been reeling from rotating brownouts.
"The looming power crisis will surely impact on existing business, discourage prospective investors from investing in Panay, particularly in Iloilo City which is the commercial, business and trade center of the region, dampen if not erase employment for the poor," Banias said.
The Presidential Assistant added that on the environmental side "various studies here and abroad do not offer direct evidence of the so-called health risks some environmentalists would like to associate with coal plants.
"As a physician myself, I will not endorse a project that will endanger the lives of people," Banias said.
Earlier, various business organizations in Iloilo City have endorsed GPBC's proposal to put up a coal-fired power plant. They contended that the city needs a dependable power source in its bid to become a premiere city by 2015.
Likewise, the multi-sectoral task force created by City Mayor Jerry Treñas to study the pros and cons in the proposed establishment of coal-fired power plant sees no problem with having such plant. The task force has submitted its report to Mayor Treñas endorsing the project.