Sual mayor slams opposition to second power plant
SUAL– Mayor Roberto Arcinue slammed the Save Sual Movement (SSM) that’s opposing the establishment of a second coal-fired power plant in the town for claiming that coal-fired power plants pollute the local environment.
Arcinue dared SSM’s convenor, Rosanna Soriano, to prove their allegation that the present Sual Coal-fired Power Plant operated by Team Energy is causing pollution in the surrounding areas.
The Sual-Coal-Fired Power located in Barangay Pangascasan, generates 1,200 megawatts of power for the Luzon Grid.
A proposed second power plant in Sual to be located in Baquioen Bay, will have a generating capacity of another 1,000 megawatts.
He said SSM never presented any evidence or document to prove their allegation that the existing Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant being operated by Team Energy is causing any pollution.
“If there is really pollution, how come fishes thrive in hundreds of fish cages beside the power plant?” Arcinue asked in Filipino.
The town of Sual is home to some 750 world-class fish cages located in Sual Bay near the power plant that produce 60 metric tons of bangus (milkfish) daily sold to major fish markets in Metro Manila.
He added that the farmers in Barangay Pangascasan where the power plant is located, have been enjoying bountiful rice harvests averaging 80-120 sacks of rice per hectare.
The mayor stressed that the taxes being collected from the operation of the power plant enabled the municipality to become a first class town from just a fourth class municipality, that managed to implement programs and projects that improved the lives of the people in the town.
Among these programs include a new municipal hall, sport complex, well-paved and well-maintained municipal and barangay roads, multi-purpose vehicles, health centers, multi-purpose covered courts in all the barangays, police patrol car, ambulances, hospital and school buildings.
Residents also found well-paying jobs in this facility, he added.
The mayor pointed out that another coal-fired power plant in Barangay Baquioen will allow for more development programs and projects in the town.
A multi-national company from South Korea is eyeing Sual as the site of a US$ 2 billion power plant that would not only provide employment for more than a thousand residents but would greatly lower the country’s high cost of electricity and growing demand by foreign investors.
Mayor Arcinue said that to prove their sincerity in opposing coal-fired power plants, the officers of the Save Sual Movement should refrain from using electricity produced by the power plant. (Leonardo Micua)
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