Local govts, residents reject construction of dam for power generation, Metro Manila water supply
LUCENA CITY—Local governments, the provincial board, as well as residents and tribesmen in the affected area have rejected the construction of a dam designed to provide power in the province as well as augment Metro Manila drinking water supply.
Liberal Party Rep. Vicente Alcala of Quezon disclosed on Saturday that as early as May 2011, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Quezon passed a resolution rejecting the construction of a dam for a hydropower plant in the right or left portion of the Agos River in General Nakar town.
“May kapasiyahan na kami noon sa Sangguniang Panglalawigan na kami ay tumututol diyan sa pagtatayo ng anumang dam sa kaliwa o kanan ng Agos River sa General Nakar,” Alcala said.
The resolution, Kapasiyahan Bilang 2011-633, states, “Kapasiyahang mahigpit na tinututulan ng Sangguniang Panglalawigan ang planong pagtatayo o pagpapagawa ng dam ng Hydro Power Plant sa kanan at kaliwang bahagi ng Agos River, General Nakar, Quezon.”
Alcala said the resolution was approved on May 16 during the regular session by nine SP members, including Alona Obispo, Ferdinand Talabong, Victor Reyes, Manuel Butardo, Rachel Ubana, Gerald Ortiz, Lourdes de Luna-Pasatiempo, Marvin Loui Villasenor and Joana Rose Martija.
Ubana, Villasenor and Martija are no longer SP members but the rest were reelected to their present positions.
The session was presided by Alcala, then-Quezon vice governor, and the approved resolution, sponsored by Butardo, was signed by Gov. David Suarez.
Alcala, who had marched with tribal folk leaders in protesting construction of the Laiban Dam project in General Nakar, still expressed his firm opposition to the establishment of any power dam project, saying it would adversely affect the health and living condition of the residents in the area.
The 2011 SP resolution came out in the light of the initial public consultation on Friday on the proposed Kanan wind, hydropower and bulk-water project hosted by the SP’s joint Committees on Environment and Natural Resources, on Energy,on Tourism, on Culture and the Arts, and on Investment, Trade and Industry.
Representatives of project proponent Energy World International (EWI) Ltd., the Public-Private Partnership Selection Committee, municipal and barangay officials and tribesmen, as well as residents of Real, Infanta and General Nakar (Reina), the areas to be adversely affected by the power project.
The then-SP took into consideration the strong opposition of the non-governmental group Task Force Sierra Madre-Northern Quezon, which believed that the construction of the proposed 91.4-meter-high and 206.7-meter- long concrete dam by the Kanan Hydroelectric Power Corp. is not in consonance with the environment, forests and the whole ecosystem in the area and could even cause a tragedy worse than what happened during the massive landslide on November 29, 2004, which killed a thousand people and destroyed properties, crops and animals owing to alleged massive and rampant illegal-logging activities in the Reina area.
During the initial public consultation on Friday, Graham Elliot of the EWI presented the P46.5-billion proposed project that is designed to generate 410 megawatts (MW) of electricity and up to 500 million cubic meters per year of bulk water.
The project requires the construction of an 80-meter concrete buttress dam for the creation of a reservoir to harness the power potential and water supply from the Kanan River.
The total reservoir area has total capacity of 124 million cubic meters of water; while a wind farm that will generate as much as 200MW will be developed in four phases to augment hydropower generation.
Initial water supply to be generated will be 275,000 cubic meters per day, Elliot said
He said that benefits to the host province include revenue sharing in which Quezon will receive up to 4 percent of all revenues amounting to about P250 million a year; direct investment in local power and water infrastructure and environmental protection totaling 1.5 percent of revenue per year; real- property tax payments; additional payment of royalties from power generation to the municipalities for forest protection and other local development programs; employment of more than 2,000 people during construction and full-time work force of over 500 in which priority employment would come from local residents in the Reina area.
The Task Force Sierra Madre for Balanced Ecology chaired by Fr. Mario Establecida and heads of the tribal groups in Reina have submitted a joint statement of protest and opposition to the proposed bulk water and dam projects during the consultation.
The joint statement was accompanied by resolutions of the Sangguniang Bayan of Real and Infanta opposing the planned construction of mega dams in Sierra Madre, Kaliwa and Laiban dams; a resolution by the Municipal Development Council of Infanta declaring firm opposition to the granting of clearance to the New Centennial Water Source Project-Kaliwa Dam Project to be undertaken by Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System; and a resolution issued by the tribal communities of General Nakar expressing strong opposition to the Kaliwa and Laiban dam projects.
