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Monday, May 03, 2004
Benguet communities, LHC sign deal on hydro project
LUZON Hydro Corp. (LHC), Barangay Kayapa of Bakun, and sitios Bana, Tanap, Asub, and Lanipew of Tacadang, Kibungan signed last Feb. 26 a memorandum of agreement formalizing the communities' acceptance of the Kayapa Water Diversion Project.
Benguet Gov. Raul Molintas, LHC managing director Graham Cor-bishley, and 34 members of the council of elders were among the signatories, a statement said.
Further solidifying the community's acceptance of the hydro project, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) issued the first-ever FPIC (free and prior informed consent) certificate following a four-day field-based investigation.
NCIP legal officer Severino Lumiqued coordinated with the Bakun Indigenous Tribes Organization and Kayapa's council of elders during the field-based investigation.
"We can see that the community supports this project 100 percent," said LHC's Corbishley.
The diversion project, capable of diverting six cubic meters of water per second, will supplement the water requirements and increase the annual generation of LHC's Bakun AC hydropower plant and will allow the facility to generate close to its maximum capacity of 70-megawatts for most of the year.
This will be done through the construction of two separate weirs at the Poy-Ocan and Kayapa Rivers, both minor tributaries of the Bakun River. The weirs will divert the water through conveyance lines, a four-kilometer tunnel, and a drop shaft connecting to the existing Bakun AC underground penstock, into the power plant located in Alilem, Ilocos Sur.
Excess water will be diverted to a new mini hydropower plant to be constructed adjacent to the Bakun AC.
The project has an estimated cost of $15-18 million. The construction duration will be 14 months after an initial five-month design phase.
The main benefit LHC will provide Barangay Kayapa is the construction of a P65-million 10-kilometer access road that will connect to Amilongan in Alilem, Ilocos Sur.
According to Kayapa Councilor Manuel Taliga, the agriculture business will be the first to benefit from the road project.
Kayapa will also receive a Community Development Fund of P1 million for the first year and P500,000 for each subsequent year for 21 years.
They will also benefit from the company's livelihood programs, medical assistance, watershed management, scholarship programs, and the electrification of the community's five sitios.
LHC is a joint venture between Aboitiz Equity Ventures and Pacific Hydro Ltd. of Australia.
(May 3, 2004 issue)
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