Saturday, July 10, 2004 Friendship bridge opens in Ilocos
TO the 4,000 residents of Alilem, Ilocos Sur, the Amburayan River is synonymous to danger during rains and typhoons. The river would rise to unmanageable levels, leaving the town and its residents totally isolated.
But that is now a thing of the past.
Clean energy producer and Aboitiz subsidiary Luzon Hydro Corp. (LHC) recently inaugurated and opened the first permanent and only dry-crossing link to the rest of the country for Alilem residents. Energy Secretary Vicente Perez cut the ceremonial ribbon.
The P60-million Luzon Hydro Friendship Bridge is 292 meters long and 5.2 meters wide. It spans the Amburayan River, connecting Barangay Dalawa of Alilem and Barangay Namaltugan in Supiden, La Union.
LHC is a joint venture between Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) and Pacific Hydro Ltd., Austra-lia’s leading renewable energy company. It generates electricity produced from nonpolluting sources, wind and water.
AEV chief operating officer and LHC chairman Erramon Aboitiz said the bridge project would bring significant social and economic benefits to the people of Ilocos Sur and Benguet provinces.
Alilem Mayor Samson Bangaoil for his part said the bridge would speed up the farm-to-market transport of agriculture products such as fruits, root crops, rice, corn and tobacco. The crops could reach the local markets still fresh and, thus, command a better price.
According to Pacific Hydro managing director Jeff Harding, the Friendship Bridge is an example of his company’s commitment to local host communities where it operates.
The construction of the bridge is one of LHC’s biggest corporate social responsibility initiatives since it began operating in 2001 the 70-megawatt Bakun AC hydropower facility, the first build-operate-transfer hydro project in the Philippines.
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