BUKIDNON | BUKIDNON NEWS | BUKIDNON BUSINESS – So Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., a listed company owned by the Alcantara group, has dropped its plan to put up a mega bio-ethanol plant in nearby Cagayan de Oro City. The million dollar question now is — will the Province of Bukidnon be strongly affected by the scrapping of this mega ethanol project?

Alsons, in a statement, cited the strong opposition to the project and delays in the issuance of an environmental permit. The plant was supposed to produce roughly 100,000 liters a day and would use cassava chips from Bukidnon as feedstock.

The mega project was supposed to have cost P2.1 Billion.

“ACR regrets having taken this action, which has stemmed, from among other deterrents, its perceptions of the current ambiguities in the implementation of the Biofuels Act…(there were) unjustifiable delays in the issuance of environmental clearance certificate by the [Environment Department’s] regional office, the congressional intervention into executive branch functions over the issuance of the project’s ECC and the Catholic church’s and the NGO sectors’ apparent lack of genuine concern for the plight of the poor,” Alsons’ statement said.

Alsons was eyeing two ethanol plants – one in Bukidnon and another one in South Cotabato.

Incidentally, the Bio Fuels Act, as many Bukidnon residents may know, was authored by no other than Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri. Zubiri was also a very strong advocate of bio-ethanol.

Bukidnon Online was even there in Kibawe during a multi-sectoral meeting, attended by Sen. Zubiri and officials from the DENR, when Zubiri said that the bio-ethanol project will spell thousands of jobs especially for people in the third district of Bukidnon.

SO NOW THE BIG QUESTION IS…WITH THE SCRAPPING OF THIS MEGA PROJECT, WILL BUKIDNON SUFFER?

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