Press Release
05 June 2017
NAPOCOR CLARIFIES ROLE IN ANGAT DAM & DYKE STRENGTHENING PROJECT
State-owned National Power Corporation (Napocor) on Monday clarifies that it has only issued land use permits to the Angat Hydropower Corporation (AHC) for its implementation of the Angat Dam and Dyke Strengthening Project.
Napocor’s statement comes in light of the recent clamor of the Provincial Government of Bulacan to stop the cutting of trees in the reservation.
“We had only given them land use permits which allowed them to use a total of 42.19 hectares of land within the watershed to serve as their contractor’s and its facilities’ temporary campsite and to complete the rehabilitation project,” said Napocor’s Watershed Management Department Manager Emmanuel A. Umali.
Umali said that the AHC’s tree cutting permit, as provided for in Executive Order 23 s. 2011 was issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) after a joint onsite tree inventory conducted by the agency and Napocor.
Napocor assures the public, particularly the stakeholders of the Angat Dam that it shall remain vigilant in making sure that AHC is complying with the requirements and permits issued to them by the DENR.
“We shall ensure that for every tree cut down, AHC will provide 100 seedlings as replacement as indicated in DENR Memorandum Circular 2012-02 and that the trees cut down will be all accounted for and be brought to the DENR as directed,” Umali said.
The Angat Dam and Dyke Strengthening Project is part of the sale agreement of Angat Dam to AHC. It is expected to improve the integrity of the dam and make it at par with the current international standards for dam installations. END
