Mayor Arcinue refused entry inside power plant
EVEN after the settlement of the dispute over fish cages crowding Cabalitian Bay near the Sual power plant, bad blood seems to linger between the local government of Sual and the management of the Sual Power Plant.
Mayor Robert Arcinue , speaking during the KBP forum on Thursday, decried being refused entry twice to the plant’s compound, once last year and another this year.
“Imagine, a town mayor being denied entry into the premises of the power plant,” Arcinue said, then went on to warn the company that, “Remember, you are not in Guam, You are in Sual, Pangasinan, Philippines.”
The feud between the two flared up last year when Ruben Licerio, station manager of the SPP, asked the provincial board to mediate over their call for the Sual municipal government to order operators to move their fish cages further away from the coast to avoid possible disruption in the plant’s operations and cause massive blackout in areas being supplied by the power plant.
The structures have remained but have been re-arranged in a more orderly set-up.
DEEPER REASON
Arcinue contends that the fish cages were no threat to the plant and believes that there is “a deeper reason” why the SPP made a “fuss” over it.
He hinted that the controversy was raised by SPP after the local government started questioning the company over 31 buildings within its compound that were built without permits from the municipality.
He said the company started securing building permits in September last year but has yet to complete the requirements until now.
Meanwhile, Arcinue said he has required anew all fish cage operators in Sual to secure their respective Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECCs) from the Environmental Management Bureau.
The mayor underscored that it is only in Sual that fish cage operators are asked for such requirement.
“I am requiring all fish cage operators to have their own ECCs because according to Director Joel Salvador of EMB, it is only the municipality of Sual that has complied with the requirement of ECC,” Arcinue said proudly.
At the same time, he again denied the assertion of Licerio that the fish cages that produce milkfish are a threat to the security of the power plant.
“Isda naman yan eh, hindi naman yan terrorist. How can it disrupt the operation of the power plant?” Arcinue said.
The management of the Sual Power Plant could not be reached at presstime for its reaction. –LVM
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