The Negros Occidental provincial government-led multipartite monitoring team (MMT) will keep track of the environmental compliance and sustainability efforts of Hacienda Asia Plantations Inc. (HAPI) located in two villages of Candoni town.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson issued a directive creating the MMT, as environmental groups continue to oppose yesterday the firm’s proposed palm oil plantation project in the area covered by an integrated forest management agreement (IFMA) with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
“The province is committed to upholding environmental integrity, promoting responsible agricultural and agro-forestry practices, and ensuring that operations, like those of HAPI, contribute to the long-term sustainability and well-being of local communities and ecosystems,” the governor said.
He added that “there is a need for a collaborative oversight mechanism involving various stakeholders to ensure transparency, accountability, and effective implementation of environmental safeguards.”
Based on Lacson’s executive order, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office will sit as chair while the members will include the DENR-Environment Management Bureau (EMB), Community Environment and Natural Resources Office, HAPI as the IFMA project holder, Candoni municipal government, and Gatuslao and Agboy village councils.
The groups will select their members from non-government organizations, civil society organizations, academe, environmental experts from academic institutions, and Indigenous peoples’ representatives or local community representatives.
“The MMT will ensure that HAPI, as the IFMA holder, will comply with the terms and conditions of its environmental compliance certificate (ECC) and comprehensive development and management plan, including sustainable management practices,” Lacson said.
Also, it will conduct regular monitoring and evaluation of forest management activities, undertake site inspections, environmental data collection and consultations with affected stakeholders, and submit recommendations for mitigating any adverse environmental impacts and actions contrary to environmental regulations to government units, agencies, and institutions for appropriate actions, among others.
In a letter addressed to DENR-EMB Western Visayas Regional Director Ramar Niel Pascua dated October 23, the Group of Environmental Socialists Inc. and Green Alert Network demanded the revocation of the IFMA issued to HAPI and the issuance of a cease-and-desist order against its operations.
They said the firm’s “failure to comply with the requirements for an ECC is not only a violation of environmental laws and regulations but also a threat to the communities and environment affected by the ongoing land clearing and development.” (PNA)