Sual Mayor Calugay eyes formulation of CLUP

SUAL, Pangasinan – The plan of Mayor Lizeldo “Dong” Calugay to come up with a comprehensive land use plan (CLUP) to speed up the economic growth of Sual augurs well with his policy of attracting more investors.

“The planned CLUP sits well with the mayor’s thrust of attracting more investors to put up more big-ticket projects in our town,” a statement says from Sual Pro-Progress, a large group of residents who support the construction of another power plant.

Mayor Dong Calugay

In his recent State of the Municipality Address, Mayor Calugay said that one of his top priorities is the formulation of Sual’s CLUP considering the numerous offers of foreign and domestic investors to put up power plants, factories, seaport, ship building facilities and other industries worth billions of US dollars.

He said this would make it easier for investors to come in as well as achieve for the municipality a balanced and sustainable economic growth.

 Among the projects being pushed is the establishment of an international seaport and additional power plant to generate jobs and additional revenues for the residents and the municipal government.

“Isang napaka-halagang proyekto, hindi lang para sa ating bayan, kundi para sa buong lalawigan ay ang planong pagpapagawa ng Sual International Seaport, na maging daongan ng domestic at international container ships,” Mayor Calugay said.

The mayor has created a regional technical working group with the regional directors of the Philippine Ports Authority, National Economic Development Authority, Bureau of Customs, Department of Environment & Natural Resources, and Department of Transportation as members, to work for the realization of the seaport.

                                                Second power plant

Another project under consideration is the construction of another coal-fired power plant proposed by Korean Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) worth two billion US dollars.

The said projects is expected to generate no less than one thousand jobs for Sual residents and about P800 million additional revenues annually for the municipality of Sual and the province.

It is recalled that Director General Charito Plaza of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority supported the construction of more power plants in Pangasinan to support the establishment of more economic zones in the Pangasinan.

She said PEZA will come up with an economic zone map of the whole country, which will be used by investors in establishing their businesses.

Lawyer Raul Lambino, who currently serves as Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon at the same time the administrator of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, has been working 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.

"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.

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

He believes that Sual town is an ideal site, as it is where a coal-fired power plant is located being operated by Team Energy of Japan.

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.

Among 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.

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

            Sual has been declared by the provincial government in November 2017 as the province’s Energy City to fast-track the influx of investors.

            With the construction of the second power plant in Pangasinan, stable power supply and possibly lower electricity rates are expected to entice more investors to put up industries and businesses in Pangasinan. (P.R NEWS)