Aboitiz Power Corp, via their Hedcor subsidiary, announced that their board had approved the scrapping of the 34.5-megawatt (MW) Tamugan-Panigan-Suawan Hydro Electric project worth 7 Billion if they do not attain consensus with the Davao City Water District(DCWD) on the joint usage of the Tamugan river. DCWD holds the rights to the usage of the river owing to a previously approved permit given almost 10 years ago. DCWD is holds the franchise rights to distribute water to the city of Davao.
The Suwaan part of the project was slated to begin construction this July, but because of an objection by the DCWD, was put on hold. Now, with steel and construction materials going up, the delay in the start of construction could mean that the project is not economically viable anymore to setup hence the board approved option to scrap the project.
Davao City Councillor Peter Lavina mentioned in his blog, that DCWD has a long history on sitting on projects and not implementing them.
About a decade ago, the water utility firm was also a recipient of fund support from foreign aid agencies on the sewerage system for the city. Nothing, unfortunately, came out of it. The same can be said of its plans for the Tamugan River as source of surface water. The National Water Resource Board granted it permit ten years ago, but nothing has been done about it.[source]
The Davao City Council and the Davao Mayor himself has expressed the importance of both projects by DCWD and Hedcor for the future of the City and will work hard to see that they are both implemented.
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Category: Misc, Hydro, Aboitiz
