Stakeholders of AC Energy Philippines conducted a meeting to discuss the progresses of the clean-up efforts they have as part of the environmental management plan.
The stakeholders’ task force is composed of representations from different barangays of Iloilo City, offices of the Iloilo City Government, Philippine Coast Guard, AC Energy Philippines, AECOM Philippines and Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc. AECOM Philippines is AC Energy’s consultant while Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc. is their cleanup contractor. They met last July 15, 2020 to track the progress of the clean-up efforts they have on plate. The meeting included progress of the clean-up drives in the barangays affected by the oil spill that happened last July 3, 2020.
Affected Families to Go Home
On the meeting, the task force developed parameter to bring back slowly the community to their homes. As of this writing, 37 out of 323 relocated families were surveyed and the task force vowed to evaluate other families as soon as possible. From this initial step, the multi-agency team of stakeholders believes that slowly, affected families can safely return to their homes the soonest.
Coastal Clean Up Actions
AC Energy Philippines and AECOM Philippines presented their action plans on the coastal cleanup. The presentation was organized by City Environment & Natural Resources Office (“CENRO”) and attended by Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (“PENRO”), Environmental Management Bureau (“EMB”), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (“DENR”) Regional Office, the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (“CDRRMO”), Dr. Rex Sadaba of University of the Philippines (“UP”) Visayas and other government agencies.
In the meeting organized by CENRO, AECOM Philippines presented its spill called Shoreline Clean-up and Assessment Technique (“SCAT”). SCAT is a systematic method for surveying an affected shoreline after an oil spill. AC Energy Philippines is firm to commit in making sure that all the efforts of the cleanup drives are not just in adherence with the international standards but also involves stakeholders.
The Head of AC Energy Philippines for Plant Operations, Gabby Mejia said that he is “grateful to everyone for participating in this multi-stakeholder process and we look forward to your continued support for the cleanup, relief and rehabilitation efforts.” He also believes that “with this strong collaboration among the various stakeholders, we are confident that we will be able to achieve our common objective restore normalcy in the lives of everyone”.
