Climate activists hope for more cancellation of coal power plant projects

SCORING a hard-earned victory for residents in a barangay in Ozamis City threatened by the proposed construction of a coal-fired power plant in their vicinity that could adversely impact their health, climate activists expressed hope that this would roll off into the discontinuation of other similar projects in various sites in the country.

In a recent statement, the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) welcomed the decision by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to cancel the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of the Ozamiz Power Generation Inc. (OPGI) for its proposed 300-megawatt facility in Barangay Pulot.

An ECC is required before construction of the facility can proceed and although the Bgy. Pulot project has not yet been implemented since OPGI’s ECC was issued in October 2015, “the cancellation of the ECC of the proposed coal plant effectively spared the residents from an environmental calamity and hazardous health effects a coal-fired power plant brings in a community.

“The residents can now heave a sigh of relief. The decision of the EMB is a hard-earned victory for the residents of Barangay Pulot who stood their ground, and Ozamiz City as a whole,” the group stated.

PMCJ likewise lauded its local partners, among them Gitib, Incorporated, Federation of Rural Urban Poor Organizations in Ozamiz City, Sanlakas and Freedom from Debt Coalition-Western Mindanao, for helping them achieve this recent victory for the environment.