The Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) on Thursday officially granted the Puerto Princesa City Water District (PPCWD) a Strategic Environmental Plan (SEP) clearance for its Lapu-Lapu/Montible rivers water expansion project.
Jovic Fabello, PCSD spokesperson, said the SEP was granted during the closed-door meeting of the Council.
Fabello said the PPCWD was able to convince the members of the PCSD regarding the need to open the river water expansion project in Lapu-Lapu and Montible.
“For the record, hindi talaga namin sinasabi na hindi namin sila binigyan. It was held in abeyance because of the additional information na gustong malaman ng Council,” Fabello pointed out.
The PCSD technical working group submitted their findings on the documents that were re-submitted by the management of the water firm, he added.
Fabello explained that the issuance of the SEP clearance was also due to the revised engineering design of the water project and its feasibility studies which met required compliances.
“With that, nabasa na ng Council ‘yon. Na-review na nila and they gave merits to those findings and recommendations, they have decided to finally na mabigyan na sila ng kanilang SEP clearance,” he also said.
Earlier, Nelson Devanadera, PCSD executive director, said the PPCWD application for this water expansion project was submitted to their office in 2016, however it “lacked integrity and that the feasibility cannot be ascertained.”
The PPCWD project aims to provide enough water supply for the consumers, and as an alternative option to the current Irawan River water source.
