by Lovely A. Carillo
I will be the first one to kill it (in reference to the Tamugan hydro plant project) if there is proof that it will be harmful to Davao.”
Thus declared Erramon Aboitiz, president and chief executive officer of Aboitiz Power, explaining that the water resources of the Tamugan River is very important to the company.
He said Davao City is very important for the Aboitiz company because they have significant investments in the city. “Without water, our business will not be able to grow,” he added.
“If the trees are not protected then our investment in the hydropower plant will just be washed away,” he said, adding “it is thus the thrust of Aboitiz Power to protect the watershed and to really get involve in power conservation and power efficiency. “
He said the Aboitiz group has already conducted a study on the effect of putting up a hydropower plant in the Tamugan River “and our study shows no indication that we are harming the aquifer.”
He said he is an advocate of using Davao’s water for everyone, especially for drinking. However, he added, the water that will be used by their hydropower plant project is not the water that seeps into the aquifer but the water that ends up in the sea.
Aboitiz said he understands the apprehension of the Davao City Water District about their project affecting the water supply. The two concerns of the DCWD, he said, are the elevation of the project and the effect of this in the recharging zones where nature can recharge or replenish the water in the aquifers.
“Our analysis shows that the power plant will not affect the recharge zones,” he said. He begged the agencies and organizations concerned “not to kill the project on a hunch” and asked DCWD and the other organizations that are against the project to “substantiate” their claims.
