By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Batac
City—Vice mayor Ronald Allan M. Nalupta
announced said they felt insulted and “slapped” by the National Grid Corp. of
the Philippines (NGCP) after they were ignored when the distribution utility
built power towers here.
The vice mayor learned that
NGCP has already constructed 44 towers in different barangays here even without
a resolution coming from the Sangguniang Panlungsod for the construction.
Earlier, the NGCP requested
the Batac council for the passage of a resolution that allows them to construct
towers for the San Esteban-Laoag 230KV transmission line project.
In line with this, the
council invited NGCP representatives to explain the construction and to explain
the possible effects of the transmission towers to households near them.
Several NGCP representatives
attended a regular session and answered all queries from council members. They
also vowed to secure all the necessary requirements before the construction.
In turn, the council members
also promised to pass the resolution provided there will be no objection from
barangays that would be affected.
The council expressed their
support further for the project as it would bring better power services to the
province.
The resolution however was
deferred multiple times and is currently on its second and final reading as the
council members want all queries from the barangays affected settled before its
passage.
It is at this point when the
council members learned that several towers have already been constructed.
Mr. Nalupta considers this
“bad faith” for the NGCP as they went on with the construction without approval
from the Batac council.
He stressed that it was NGCP
which asked for the resolution and not the council.
“Talaga a bastos dagitoy taga NGCP. Nagawan a manak-nakem da ket insult kadakami iti sibubukel a sanggunian daytoy ta ana payla ngarud iti
im-immayan da paylaeng ngem madi da met gayam nga itungpal ken respetaren
daytoy”, Mr. Nalupta said.
The vice mayor added that he
does not know how they would resolve this issue but he said he will encourage
those affected lot owners, especially those who have not settled with NGCP, to
file a case in court.
The
Ilocos Times learned that the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan already approved a resolution allowing NGCP to build towers in the
province but the vice mayor questioned why NGCP still went to the extent of
asking them for a resolution if they no longer need it.
Meanwhile, Batac councilor
Ibarra Crisostomo announced in his individual report during a regular session
that NGCP will give two school buildings for the Laoag as their corporate social
responsibility counterpart (CSR) for the approval of the same measure there.
The Laoag council approved a
similar resolution just recently.
Mr. Nalupta congratulated
Laoag for getting the “respect” from NGCP.
Mr. Nalupta added that
personally, and for as long as there will be no objections from the barangay
folks of the 11 barangays affected, he would no longer ask for a CSR project.
Reacting to this, NGCP
regional corporate communications officer Lilibeth Gaydowen said that as per
verification with the project in charge of the on-going San Esteban-Laoag 230
KV Transmission Line Project, proper coordination with the LGU and land owners
were done before the construction including securing construction and necessary
DENR permits.
Ms. Gaydowen emphasized the
importance of the said project because it caters to additional generation capacity
from the wind farms in Ilocos Norte.
Reacting to the still
unapproved resolution, “Actually hindi pa
naman tapos ang mga towers. Marami
pang gagawin diyan”, Ms. Gaydowen said in a text message.
Comments
Post a Comment