The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Cordova town may be fined P50,000 if found liable for implementing a reclamation project without securing an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).
Dr. Eddie Llamedo, public information officer of DENR, said they haven’t received any feasibility study on the ro-ro port reclamation project in barangay Gabi, Cordova since it began during the administration of former governor and now Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu’s 3rd district.
“The reclamation project is illegal. We have yet to consider the impact on the environment. We have yet to receive a full blown application for a reclamation project in Cordova,¨ he said.
Llamedo said they will send a team to investigate the project. If there’s no ECC, the town will be fined P50,000 for every condition violated in the certificate.
Llamedo said only the Cebu Provincial Reclamation Authority (CPRA) and the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) are authorized to issue the permit to start the reclamation project.
But he said a local govenrment unit could also start the reclamation without the CPRA or the PRA provided that it is a highly urbanized component city and if they comply with the specific law for conducting a reclamation in their charter.
Llamedo said the Cordova municipal government should secure an agreement (MOA) with either the PRA or the CPRA and include among its provisions an environmental assessment study that is required in the MOA.
Sought for comment yesterday, Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy told Cebu Daily News in a text message that ¨no reclamation exists (but) there is a coastal road construction.¨
Last week, Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III, chair of the CPRA, said they have not issued a permit for the reclamation project in Cordova.