THE municipality of Kibungan has undergone the second community assembly and is moving to the consensus building stage of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) before the construction of hydro-power project.
NCIP Cordillera legal officer lawyer Severino Lumiqued said the assembly at Poblacion represents the last area of the six barangays of the municipality where Coheco Badeo Corporation has presented its plans and full disclosure on the project.
Coheco Badeo plans to set up a 500 megawatts pumped storage hydro-power facility in Barangay Badeo.
Lumiqued said the consensus building stage will be determined by the community and a decision must be given two months from now.
The consensus must reflect the concessions of the community as assisted by its council of elders as the manner of deciding for the project will be determined in this stage.
The Korean project backed by Chinese investors is a pumped storage for water up to upper reservoir at night releasing water to lower reservoir to produce electricity during daytime on peak hours.
Koreans Howon Kim and James Kim with local engineers and technical staff presented the project which is eyed as the first pumped storage facility in the country to be piloted in Benguet if consent of the people is acquired.
The Badeo barangay council in Kibungan, in a resolution, has supported the proposed hydro-power project.
The project aims to start construction on December 2017 to be able to contribute to the national grid and help alleviate the increasing electricity demand of the country which will be finished by 2023. (Maria Elena Catajan)