Wednesday, March 05, 2008 Atlas' first copper out in July
THE newly opened Carmen Copper Corp.-Atlas Mining is expected to produce the first batch of copper by the end of July.
Company president Alfredo Ramos told Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia about it yesterday when he visited her in Toledo City.
Ramos also said that the company has employed 4,200 people, mostly locals.
“Progress is good,” Ramos also said.
The governor was in Toledo City yesterday upon the invitation of City Mayor Arlene Zambo, who led city officials in presenting the development of the city’s Sapangdaku River.
Heritage
Zambo said the City Government wants to revive the river as a heritage and income-generating area.
She called it an important development for Toledo City.
But with development comes a sacrifice.
Garcia recently suspended for a month four sand and gravel extractors or “permittees” after not conforming to the rechanneling program of the Provincial Government in the Sapangdaku River.
Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Carmelo Valmoria was also present at the consultative meeting as his office was tasked to enforce all terms and conditions supplied in the permits.
Provincial Attorney Marino Martinquilla explained that because of too much extraction, the river went off-course. This is why there is a need to control the extractions.
Sapangdaku
The rechanneling program provides an area where hauling is allowed.
A suspended gravel extractor, during the open forum, noted that the proposed development of the Sapangdaku river is good but lamented that they should not have been suspended right away.
Martinquilla explained that the suspension of permits was done after reports from Toledo City, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources showed that the river has become uneven.
“Wala na nagkadimao. Hiwi unya naggansal-gansal (The waterway has been altered,” said Martinquilla.
“We have to correct it because it is prone to tragedy during heavy rains. Dapat klaro og hapsay na ang pamaagi mintras wala pa (We should correct it while the heavy rains have not yet come),” he added.
Garcia asked for a month to finalize the rechanneling program to be undertaken by the Sapangdaku Task Force.
To give the permittees a voice, Garcia allowed four representatives from the group to be members of the task force.
Councilor Alfonso Mercado Jr. explained that the Sapangdaku River will be turned into a leisure area with a boat quay, theme park, white water rapids, mini-zoo and a footbridge. (JGA)
