ENVIRONMENTALISTS earned another victory recently after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Environmental Management Bureau canceled the Environmental Compliance Certificate of the Ozamiz Power Generation, Inc proposed a coal-fired power plant in Barangay Pulot in Ozamiz City.
“Usa kani ka dakung kadaugan para sa kinaiyahan ug sa tibuok katawhan. Sa eight years nga struggle para mababagan ang maong proyekto sa coal-fired power plant, naka sulay usab kami ug daghang babag, pagpang harass, kahadlok ug kaluya pero wala kita mo hunong,” said Lucita D. Gonzales, Freedom from Debt Coalition Western Mindanao and Ozamiz City resident, hailing the EMB decision.
“Ang cancellation sa ECC sa OPGI bunga kini sa hiniusang lihok og tingog dili lang sa katawhan sa Ozamiz City kung dili apil ang uban pang mga organisasyon nga padayong naga kampanya ug nanawagan alang sa hustisyang pang klima,” she added.
The OPGI Inc. ECC is for a 300MW coal-fired power plant project which was issued in 2017.
After five years of the project not moving forward, the ECC has expired and the company was unable to apply for an extension.
The EMB’s decision, in this case, has opened the possibility of the cancellation of 9.6 gigawatts of coal products in the pipeline that other environmental groups are opposing, Gonzales said.
