Planned seaport, power plant in Sual pushed

SUAL, Pangasinan-Mayor Roberto  Ll. Arcinue welcomed the support given by a  Malacanang official to the planned international seaport and a second power plant to be put up by foreign and domestic investors in this first class town.

Lawyer Raul Lambino, recently appointed by President Duterte as Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon, told newsmen last week that he would push for the establishment of an international seaport “most likely in the municipality of Sual”.

As an important step, he said, it is necessary to make Pangasinan an economic zone to make the province more attractive to both foreign and domestic investors.

PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Northern Luzon Raul Lambino briefs media on his plans for the region and Pangasinan.

"It is regrettable that we do not have an economic zone in Pangasinan. I wish our congressmen would sponsor a bill in Congress for the establishment of a Pangasinan Special Economic Zone," he said.

Lambino concurrently serves as administrator and chief executive officer of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA).

He stressed the importance of developing an international seaport in the province as a mode of transportation of goods and people.

"This is my thrust. This is not to interfere with the usual operation of the agencies of bureaucracy in place but to help the President get accurate information, what the agencies ranging from those in charge of investments, infra-projects, social services, agrarian reform, and others, are doing,” Lambino said in an interview on Thursday.

“It could possibly be in Sual town and will cover Sual, Alaminos City, Bani, Anda, Bolinao or the whole Western Pangasinan, and include the towns of Labrador, Lingayen and Binmaley of the second district,” he added.

He believes that this town is an ideal site, as it is where a coal-fired power plant is located.

In welcoming this development, Arcinue said he has been talking with several investors keen on putting up an international seaport in Sual.

He said the municipality is endowed with deep and wide harbor suitable for an international seaport.

                                    2^nd Power Plant

Lambino told newsmen that South Korean Ambassador Han Dong-man told him about their plan to put up another coal-fired power plant in Sual.

He said there is no problem about pollution because of the advent of new coal technologies that greatly reduce if not eliminate greenhouse gas emission.

One of these new technologies is the ultra-super critical coal-fired power plant which at present is considered as a “High Efficiency Low Emission (HELE) Technology” and as a “green technology”.

Lambino cited the case of Zhejiang City in China where three coal-fired power plants are located “right in the heart of the City” with a combined generating capacity of 14,000 megawatts. Zhejiang City, he said, is the hub of the garment and textile industry in China.

Earlier, Mayor Arcinue disclosed that Korean Electric Power Corporation wants to invest some two billion US dollars for a modern coal-fired power plant here. The proposed plant has a generating capacity of 1,000 megawatts.

He said residents and officials of this town welcome the project as it will provide more than a thousand of jobs for the people and millions in annual revenues for the municipality.

For its Sual power plant, KEPCO would be using the ultra-supercritical technology which is the latest in coal power generation.

                                    Top priority

Lambino said that his top priority as presidential adviser for Northen Luzon is to establish an economic zone in Pangasinan.

"Our problem in Pangasinan is, this is not an economic zone. If it were an economic zone, it will be very attractive to investors," he said.

"I would love to see Pangasinan become an Economic Zone during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte. We can put up an economic zone in the province, if not before the 2019 elections, it will happen after the elections," Lambino added.