The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines is planning to construct a second submarine cable between the islands of Cebu and Negros.
The NGCP has requested the Protected Area Management Board of the Tañon Strait Seascape for a special meeting so the grid operator can present their Environmental Impact Assessment of the plan to construct a separate underwater cable between Cebu and Negros Island.
Mayor Edsel Enardecido disclosed late Thursday that he presided over the PAMB special meeting last Wednesday, July 12 at the Parklane Hotel in Cebu, where scientists raised the concerns of possible destruction of corals and marine habitat along Tañon Strait, which is a protected area seascape under Presidential Decree 123.
According to Mayor Enardecido, who is also the president of the League of Municipalities-Negros Oriental chapter, the submarine cable project will traverse from Calatrava, Negros Occidental to the City of Toledo in Cebu.
He said clearance from the PAMB is required before the Department of Environment & Natural Resources can issue the Special Application of Protected Area.
The cost of the project and other details will be presented by NGCP in the next special meeting as well as assurance that the project will not result to destruction of corals and marine life.
Mayor Enardecido said that a public hearing was already conducted for the project.
NGCP is putting up the submarine cable from Toledo in Cebu to Calatrava in Negros Occidental in a three to five-year period to enable the transmission of more power from Negros Occidental to neighboring islands and complement the output of its wind farms and fast-paced solar developments in the island. (Juancho Gallarde/PNA)
