Permit woes delay city's WTE project

CEBU, Philippines — The company set to implement Cebu City’s waste-to-resource project has asked for an extension from the city council after it encountered several setbacks.

Councilor Joel Capili Garganera, chairman of the committee on environment, natural resources and energy in the City Council disclosed that New Sky Energy Philippines, Inc. has requested for an extension for the realization of the waste-to-resource (WTR) project in Cebu City.

Just last September, New Sky sent a letter to the City government for a one-year extension to construct the facility for its WTR (formerly called WTE or Waste to Energy). The said company has a joint venture agreement with the city government.

The company noted that they needed more time to acquire necessary permits and other related contracts.

“Sa pagkakarun, they asked for additional time. Naa man gu’y mga kakaulian nga dili sila naghimo,” Garganera said through the City’s Sugboanon channel.

On the other hand, Garganera stressed that New Sky remains committed to start and realize the project.

“But the proponent is really bent nga iyaha gyud ning ma-accomplish tanan kay this is the first (WTR facility) in the country,” he added. (CEBU NEWS)

One of the problems that the proponent encountered is securing the necessary requirements from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Energy (DOE), according to Garganera.

New Sky reportedly failed to secure the necessary documents from DENR after some of its officials were suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas earlier this year.

Aside from that, the project also encountered more obstacles with other government agencies.

The DOE issued a memorandum circular that suspended all applications for biomass energy operations from June 25 to Nov. 25, 2024.

An unnamed DOE official, however, told Garganera that if Cebu City successfully implements the project, more local government units would follow suit.

The current legal battle between the City and a private firm over the ownership of the Inayawan Landfill is also adding up to the delay with the said project accordingly. This old city landfill was an “ideal” site for the proposed WTR facility.

With this, New Sky decided to acquire a property in Barangay Guba where it would establish the facility.

However, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) also required New Sky to secure clearances for the properties it wants to use for the facility, Garganera said.“Usa sa problema sad is ang conversion sa yuta from agrarian use to special use or industrial. Dili man kita ray mo decide ana, apil sad ang DAR,” Garganera said.