PRA exec defends new coal-fired power plant

CEBU, Philippines - An official of the Philippine Retailers Association defended the construction of another coal-fired power plant in Cebu following criticisms from environmental activists.

Robert Go, board of director of PRA-Cebu Chapter, said the construction by Aboitiz Power of another coal-fired power plant in Barangay Bato, Toledo City is a necessity for the province to avert future shortage of power supply.

Go said that there is an increasing demand for power in Cebu due to the emergence of Business Process Outsourcing, Information Technology and Information and Communications Technology sectors. On top of it, hotels and condominiums are also proliferating in Cebu.

“Where will we get power to light up all of these, if we do not have new power plants?” Go asked.

 â€œCebu needs that power plant. We are in need of power plants because there is a great demand for power. The demand for more power is increasing tremendously. We need the power plant before we run out of capacity,” he added.

 Lawyer Gloria Ramos, co-founder of the Philippine Earth Justice Center, said that the construction of another coal-fired power plant will make Cebu as the coal capital of the country.

The Philippine Movement for Climate Justice-Cebu together with Cebu Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Environment, Freedom from Debt Coalition-Cebu and Sanlakas-Sugbo under the Reclaim Power Campaign call for the moratorium on the issuance of permits for coal-fired power plants nationwide.

According to the groups, coal is the prime source of global warming.

But despite the call for moratorium, Aboitiz Power was granted the permit to build a 340-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Toledo City. The project is expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2017.

 â€œCoal-fired power plant is okay rather than having brownouts that will cut our economic growth and drive away future developers and investors,” Go added.

 As a businessman, Go said, he needs uninterrupted supply of power to run his business.  (FREEMAN)