|
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
City port expansion 'hasty endorsement'
By Victor L. Camion
THE non-government organization Defend the Patrimony in Negros Oriental described the move of the Dumaguete City Council as "putting the cart before the horse" when it recently passed a resolution endorsing the application of Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to expand the city's port northward.
PPA needs the council's endorsement to be able to meet the requirements before it can get an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and begin the project, which would cover some four hectares of the foreshore lands in Barangay Looc.
"There is actually no need for the council to issue an endorsement for the PPA to apply for an ECC," Engineer Trelly Marigza, chairperson of the group and an active leader of the militant Gabriela, said in a statement right after the City Council approved the endorsement.
Marigza said an endorsement is part of the social acceptance component of the environmental impact study and had to be given only after the study is completed and a project is confirmed as environmentally safe.
She said that from listening to the discussions during the City Council's deliberation of PPA's port expansion plan, it was clear that majority of the councilors knew little of what an ECC entails.
Marigza said she was surprised why PPA needed the endorsement when it has not yet started the legal requirement to study and present its findings on the effects of the proposed project.
She said PPA's letter, requesting for a favorable endorsement of their application for an ECC, neglected to give details on several of the ECC's components.
Marigza said the PPA team that attended the deliberation to explain why the agency required the endorsement failed to give a power point presentation on the details of the proposed project, which City Councilor Myrish Cadapan-Antonio had asked.
Moreover, she said, the team could not answer City Councilor Noel de Jesus's query on what would happen to the residents living in the area covered by the expansion.
"But instead of waiting for the details of the project to be presented and the result of the study (required by law), the council gave an endorsement for the project," she said. "Talk about putting the cart before the horse."
Marigza said the PPA should have started with a public consultation about its proposal and the city's councilor should have required it to have a basis for endorsement.
"On what basis are our leaders making their decisions in behalf of the people of Dumaguete City that we all undoubtedly love? I thought we had an intellectual community around... but then again," she said.
(June 18, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
