by: DONALD SEVILLA
WHILE WE WERE SLEEPING
Much to our surprise and without much fanfare, we
awoke to the blessing and inauguration of an
environmentally sensitive business in the pristine
shores of Buenavista town, in our province’s Second
District.
The billion peso shipyard investment by the AMICI
group of the PRIMARY Construction conglomerate
based in Cebu City caught almost everyone with their
pants down .Hardly anyone had noticed such venture
being built from the ground up, except perhaps for a
few, privy to its inception.
While environmentalists were too busy opposing the
Tagbilaran Waterfront Development Project that
involved a sizeable reclamation of the city’s shoreline,
works on the ship-repair facility far from the city had
continuously been ongoing under our very noses.
Envisioned to create job opportunities for residents in
the district of our province with the highest poverty
index, it was welcomed by our local officials with open
arms.
But key questions linger as to why such type of
industry was able to gain foothold in our province that
prides itself in being an ecotourism destination. We
would be hypocrites not to take heed when we proudly
oppose the building of COAL -fired power plants and
say no to reclamation for inflicting serious damage and
irreversible harm to our environment.
Between the three, a coal-fed facility can even be
seen as less “dirty”. What happened? Are we
subjecting ourselves to a double-standard leadership
where we do things differently from what we say?
For starters, did we ever hear of any public hearing
being conducted on such project before it took off? If
indeed there was, it was not well-disseminated as
hardly anyone I asked ever knew. Administrations,
past and present, take pride to publicize
accomplishments and business investments. Did we
hear any of this in the news before?
Since the project was already inaugurated and built,
we must assume it underwent the same rigorous
process other similar businesses undergo for
environmental compliance. But judging from the aerial
pictures shown in social media of the 19 hectare
facility where we can see adjacent mangroves, are we
to believe that not a single mangrove was cut and
touched in its construction when this very development
hugged the shoreline?
We raised a howl when age-old acacia trees were
felled to give way to a gasoline station constructed in
the city but we can’t lift a finger to even ask what
happened in this case?
Just building the slipway and drydocking berths for
ship repairs involves a lot of heavy clearing. What
transpired DENR?
What happened our Honorable Lawmakers, members
of the Provincial Legislature’s Committee on the
Environment? Did we just turn a blind eye when we
are all aware and proud of our province’s designation
as a UNESCO Geopark, the first for our country,
although at the time this project was hatched such
honor was not yet given?
But even then through the efforts of Hon. Ed Chatto
as Chairman of the Committee on Tourism in his
previous term in congress, Bohol already had an
ecotourism road map. The whole province was
designated as a tourism estate and care was taken not
to allow the entry of industries that could adversely
impact our efforts.
Plain and simple, Bohol badly needed its own island
based power generation facility but despite this we
said NO TO COAL It does not take a genius to figure
this out but are we reneging on our commitment to
sustainable tourism development now for short term
gain?
Ship repair facilities deal with a lot of toxic chemicals
and wastes. Are we well prepared for these? Marine
life in the area will surely be affected. The Cambuhat
Oyster farm may not be in the shipyard’s immediate
vicinity but what impact will this business have on
similar marine farms? By the way there must be a lot
of fishponds in the area as well.
While we are not against any development that brings
progress and uplifts our people’s lives, we must be
careful to balance our choices without inflicting future
harm. Yes the present counts but we must not be
selfish and look after our future generations.
What good are these jobs now when eventually we
gamble our future away and will be left with a
pittance? Can we not find better alternatives and focus
on them in line with our long term goals? Which way
should we go, industrialization or sustainable agri-
tourism to feed ourselves?
While our goals had already been set, we just have
been sidetracked and will continue to be if we waiver
in our determination. This is our greatest challenge to
stay on course.
To our leaders and policy makers, a little in depth
research on matters of vital importance that impact our
people’s lives would be a great help.
What happened Honorable Gentlemen and Ladies?
References: Google.MSDS articles and topics on:
The hazards of shipbuilding and repair.