Benhur seeks inquiry on Jatropha project

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu 4th District Representative Benhur Salimbangon filed a resolution directing the committee on energy to conduct an inquiry on the implementation of the agreement between the Philippine National Oil Company-Alternative Fuels Corporation and the district for the establishment of a Jatropha Curcas plantation in Cebu.

The memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed three years ago yet.

The PNOC-AFC and the Fourth Congressional District of Cebu entered into a MOA on May 16, 2008 for the establishment of a model nursery for Jatropha.

The project was aimed at pump-priming the economic activity of the district by providing livelihood opportunities where the plantation will be situated.

Under the agreement, the PNOC-AFC was tasked to provide the capital or financial investment for the establishment of the nursery and the 100-hectare demonstration plantation, among others.

On the other hand, the fourth district’s task was to select the growers who shall provide an initial area of 100 hectares for the demonstration plantation, which was expandable to at least 700 hectares and establish a nursery within the plantation and undertake the production of Jatropha Curcas.

It further stipulated that of the two million seedlings expected to be generated from the nursery, 250,000 seedlings shall be distributed to the growers and that the seed harvest from the 100-hectare plantation shall be exclusively purchased by the PNOC-AFC.

However, while the growers had already been identified and had likewise committed the required land for the first 100 hectares, the nursery was only partially established and could not possibly meet the required Jatropha Curcas seedlings for the committed plantation land.

Salimbangon said the project had made no significant progress and that they got nothing from the many amount of follow-ups they made with the PNOC-AFC. Like a broken record, the PNOC-AFC has given the “for-further-study” reply.

“The identified growers are already growing impatient even as our countrymen are already growing restless about the ever-rising cost of fuel products,” the resolution reads.

Salimbangon further said that three years have passed since the signing of the MOA and, in view of the high cost of fuel, there is an urgent need to look into the status of the implementation of the project. (FREEMAN)