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Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Cebu business sector ready to face oil crisis
Cebu business leaders are prepared for the oil crisis and are taking collaborative steps to face it.
That’s what Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Robert Go said yesterday.
President Arroyo called on the public to take the oil crisis seriously as crude prices breached the $65 per barrel mark last week.
“Even before the call of Malacañang, the CCCI was already in the process of launching austerity measures, asking the private sector to conserve energy, as we are faced with an oil crisis,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
Go said CCCI board members and other business leaders will meet today and come up with a statement.
Arroyo is set to issue an executive order reminding government agencies of the energy conservation campaign.
“This is a concern that not only government agencies should be wary about. The public and private sectors should also be mindful because we are directly affected by this,” Carlos Co, chairman of the Cebu Power Core Group, said in a separate interview.
Conservation
The group is composed of the National Power Corp., Cebu Private Power Corp., Toledo Power Corp., Visayan Electric Co. and other commercial companies that work together on power supply issues and concerns.
Co said both manufacturers and consumers should find ways to cut down on energy consumption. The use of air conditioning units, vehicles and other equipment should be managed with conservation of energy in mind, he said.
CCCI’s Go, for his part, commented on power plants that use diesel and bunker oil.
“These power plants, like those of Salcon Power Corp., eat a lot of our fuel supply. We should start seriously considering power plants that are coal-fired because they are cheaper and would answer our problem (during this) oil crisis,” he said.
Salcon and Korean Electric Philippines Co. are proposing to build two 100-megawatt coal-fired power plants in Naga, Cebu that would be operational in 2008.
However, Cebu Alliance for Renewable Energy, a nongovernment organization, is opposing the project, citing its effects on the environment and the health of the residents.
Go, on the other hand, said: “It is safe for health and the environment. If Europe and other developed countries use it, why can’t we?”
Coal-fired
He added that if Cebu or the whole country would use and support coal-fired power plants, the savings on the amount of fuel used would definitely be a big help.
Among the other austerity measures which CCCI will encourage are carpool-ing and the use of public transport.
On the other hand, a travel and immigration company in Cebu gave an example of how the public could take part in energy conservation when it launched last Sunday its “two carless days per week initiative.”
“The public has to make a sacrifice in order to prevent, or at least, lessen the effect of the coming oil crisis,” said Joaquin Lazaro Lawsin, managing consultant and proprietor of Global Adams Travel and Immigration Services.
Individuals with private vehicles are encouraged to take public transport for two days every week to help reduce the demand for fuel by up to 25 percent, he said.
The public transport services and management, however, should also be improved, he added. (ALC /With Sunnex)
(August 16, 2005 issue)
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