GMA, FVR to grace SRMP inaugurals

SAN MANUEL, Pangasinan — President Arroyo will lead guests in the formal inauguration on May 29 of the 345-megawatt San Roque Multipurpose Project located along the Agno River spanning the municipalities here and San Nicolas with a major reservoir extending into Itogon, Benguet.

San Roque Power Corp. developed the $1.2 billion project on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme under the power purchase agreement with the National Power Corp. (Napocor). Ownership of the dam and spillway will transfer to Napocor upon construction completion as Napocor contributed funds for the non-power components. SRPC will own and operate the power generating facilities for 25 years, after which ownership will be transfered to Napocor.

Rey Cunningham, SRPC vice president and project officer told The STAR in a phone interview yesterday that each system of the hydro- electric plant has been methodically checked to see it’s working properly prior to the formal commissioning. He said that they started commercial operation on May 1 and the May 29 affair is a celebration for the beginning of the commercial operation by recognizing that the plant is now working.

"We believe the project will be a blessing to the people of Benguet for their watershed and eco-tourism projects while Pangasinan will greatly benefit for the flood control and irrigation components," Cunningham said.

The SRMP, likewise provides year-round irrigation benefits to about 70,000 to 80,000 hectares of farmland downstream the dam, including parts of lower Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac. But initially, pending the approval of the funding for the irrigation component, about 10,000 to 20,000 hectares can be irrigated and once the old irrigation systems are rehabilitated, this number is expected to be doubled, Cunningham said.

He said that while waiting for Japan for the big work for the irrigation, they are using Philippine money for the (irrigation) improvements. He said that overall, it will be a boon to the Philippines as a nation because the electricity generated here goes everywhere.

Recalling the rigors of constructing the project, Cunningham said the most challenging part was "the confusion created by those opposing the project, though this came not from those directly affected but from forces outside who were good at making a noise." He said in reality, the opposition from those directly affected was "extremely small", but outside forces who were properly financed were just fanning it. This resulted in the delay of the funding for the irrigation component supposedly coming from Japan. — Eva Visperas