Two governors rip Treñas on coal-powered plant

Two of the five governors of Western Visayas Sunday ripped Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas for giving the go-signal to the Global Business Corp. coal-powered plant in Barangay Ignore, La Paz District, pointing out that the original proposal was to have it set up in Barotac Nuevo town of Ilo­ilo province.

Antique Gov. Sally Zaldivar-Perez, chair of the Regional Development Council, wondered aloud why the shift of the site from a rural community was done without informing the council about its transfer to Barangay Ignore, a heavily populated area.

Because of the long-term cumulative impact of coal residue, it would have been better to allow the “experiment” in Barotac Nuevo rather than suddenly place the plant in a congested area like Barangay Ignore, stressed Guimaras Gov. Felipe Nava.

Nava, incidentally is a practicing physician. And he pointed out that he is aware of the long-term impact on the health of residents that often manifest themselves only from five to 10 years.

“Why did not Mayor Treñas inform the RDC, of which he is a well respected member, about the transfer of the original site from a rural community to the city?,” asked Gov. Perez.

Although the RDC’s consent is not a requirement, still Gov. Perez pointed out that such a major shift in a project should have been brought to its attention so that studies could be made as to its feasibility.

Both Nava and Perez also stressed that insofar as their respective local government units are concerned they are against coal-powered plant.

Instead, they pointed out that their respective Sangguniang Panlalawigan had already articulated their position preferring alternative power sources such as hydro-electricity wind power and geothermal sources.

Nava went to the extent of pointing out that Guimaras may soon have its wind powered electric plant. “We will be producing 15 megawatts and will even offer to sell Iloilo part of it,” said Nava.

Perez, on the other hand, cited the ongoing hydro-electric plant which will soon be providing the power needs of the province.

Although Semirara is in Antique, it is an island far from the mainland. And we have made it clear that we are opposed to using coal to power our electricity needs in the mainland of Antique, she stressed.

Reklamo Publiko was the television program hosted Sunday by Panay News publisher-emeritus Danny Fajardo. It featured some of Iloilo’s outstanding journalists, including Leopoldo Causing, who came up with the internet report on coal-powered plants in the United States.