SBMA to implement stricter measures on environmentally sensitive projects

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) will be implementing stricter measures and standards to further safeguard the natural environment of the Subic Bay Freeport from pollution.

SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia said that the action aims to ensure that all projects, which are going to be put up or located inside the free port zone, particularly environmentally sensitive projects (ESPs), are acceptable to various stakeholders.

ESPs are projects that are determined to emit pollutants, which may have a potential impact on the natural resources, and the health of the people living or working in the area.

These pollutants include emissions, effluents, sound or visual from the proposed project that may deteriorate the health of the people, the forests and the animals living there, the bay waters, creeks, ground water and air, among others.

Garcia noted that the SBMA recognizes that the Freeport’s natural state far exceeds the quality of the national average, and therefore the agency may issue stricter environmental standards to satisfy the interests of the stakeholders.

The law that created the Freeport and the SBMA mandates the latter to protect, maintain, and develop the virgin forests into a national park by implementing the rules and regulation of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The issuance of stricter standards, through the implementation of a policy on ESPs, will help the SBMA in realizing its mandates of protecting and preserving the environment.

“Through a board resolution, the SBMA Board of Directors will declare whether or not the project is environmentally sensitive, or is in compliance with the parameters as determined to be within the acceptable levels of emissions,” Garcia said.

Under this system, if the proposed project is considered an ESP, the SBMA Ecology Center will independently verify all of the project pollutants, the natural resource impacts, and extent of the proponent’s mitigating measures. All data gathered will be presented to the SBMA Board.

Stakeholder groups, consisting of representatives or officers of housing areas, Freeport workers’ associations, and the indigenous people’s tribal council will be invited to public consultations on ESPs where inputs about the results of the verification process will be presented.

Based on the evaluation “of the totality of acceptability ratings from the various stakeholders of the Freeport,” the SBMA Board shall declare whether or not the project is socially acceptable.

In any case where the project is declared not socially acceptable, the proponents will be advised to redesign the project or its mitigating measures to meet a level acceptable to stakeholders. Meanwhile, its permit to operate will be withheld.

“This way, the stakeholders are given a sense of participation in truly preserving the unique environmental feature of the Freeport, which is one of the major attractions of Subic’s tourism industry,” Garcia said. (SBMA Corporate Communications)

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SBMA, Lighthouse Marina gear up for coastal cleanup

In keeping with their commitment for the protection of the environment, The Lighthouse Marina Resort in coordination with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) will be mobilizing their networks in the community for a coastal cleanup activity on September 17.

The event, which will coincide with this year’s International Coastal Cleanup Day, will be held at the Waterfront area in this free port.

The Lighthouse Marina Resort and the SBMA have partnered in the past few years for beach cleanup drives in an effort to promote environmental consciousness among residents and business locators here.

For this year, the SBMA will again mobilize participants from among its various strategic business units, said SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza. The agency has pledged at least 200 participants, including divers, to cover the SBMA-assigned area, stretching more than two kilometers from Alava Pier to the end of the Boardwalk Park.

Also part of the SBMA's commitment to the activity is to assist the organizers through its Ecology Department in the segregation of collected trash and proper data recording.
The agency will likewise urge employees from business locators, as well as students in Freeport schools and fisher folks to join the activity, Arreza added.

Organizers from The Lighthouse Marina Resort, meanwhile, said that those who would like to join the beach cleanup will need to register before September 15. Registration is free.

Participants will have to assemble at 6:00 a.m. at the Boardwalk Park area and form groups of five before going to the stations that will be designated by the organizers.

The cleanup drive will cover the area stretching from Boardwalk Park up to the Lighthouse beachfront.

The International Coastal Cleanup Day was started in 1986 in Texas by former Ocean Conservancy employee Linda Maraniss. It is being observed every third Saturday of September each year, with thousands of volunteers around the world joining to clean coastlines and seas.

During the cleanup at Subic last year, close to 4,000 residents, employees, students and visitors joined the activity and collected about 6,075 kilos of trash, including those collected from underwater dives.

This year’s event is supported by the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce, the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians, and the Ocean Conservancy, a non profit advocacy group that promotes healthy and diverse ecosystems. (SBMA Corporate Communications)

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Freeport firms want box underguard, bond retained

Locators in the Clark and Subic freeport zones say they support the Bureau of Customs’ use of electronic global positioning system or GPS-equipped barrier seals to track cargoes, but want the use of underguarding and the general transportation surety bond (GTSB) retained as alternatives.

The barrier seal project should have been put in place this month but is being delayed until a new BOC commissioner has been appointed.

The barrier seal is designed to replace underguarding and GTSB in monitoring transit cargoes, as well as to alert police on unauthorized opening of container doors.

Customs Administrative Order 4-2010 requires cargo owners to equip their cargoes with the barrier seal to allow officials to track and monitor cargoes from the time they leave customs territory up to their arrival at the destination.

The order also provides for the collection of a transit processing fee of P1,100 for containerized cargo, P400 for breakbulk cargo and a $5 container security fee that will be charged to cargo owners on top of the fee to be collected by the service provider.

"As far as Subic and Clark are concerned, the only issue to be resolved for the project to push through is that the locators be given a choice to use either GPS, GTSB or underguard," Clark GPS-equipped barrier seal consultant Roberto Domondon said.

Many locators want to get the GPS-enabled tracking system so they can go online, yet they need alternatives depending on their type of business.

They also complain about the cost and that the incoming commissioner would study their position.

"We are not yet sure if the new commissioner will push through with the project considering that there are sectors that oppose it," Domondon said.

Under incumbent Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez, Domondon has been keen on imposing the tracking system at the start of September using the graduated fee of P700 per container for cargoes bound for areas within 20 kilometers of the port.

Cargoes for delivery beyond Edsa would be charged P1,500 per container while those transported through the North and South Luzon Expressways would be charged P2,200 per container.

The project has been put on hold since President Aquino’s announcement that a new customs commissioner will report for work starting on September 16.

Locators expect that the new BOC leadership will retain the underguarding and GTSB that cost about P300 per container.

Société Generale de Surveillance (SGS) is the GPS service provider, having bested other bidders such as Cotecna and local firm Tim Corp. (Genivi Factao, Malaya)

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Asian port officials to attend 2nd ACTA meeting in Subic

Officials from different cruise-ship terminals in Asia, including the biggest port in the world, will be coming to the Subic Bay Freeport on Thursday (September 1) to attend the second Pro-Tem committee meeting of the Asia Cruise Terminals Association (ACTA).

Representatives from the International Cruise Terminal Development Co., Ltd., which oversees Shanghai Wu Song Kou port, currently the world’s largest port, will be joined by delegates from Singapore, Japan and Malaysia during the committee meeting.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), which is a founding member of ACTA, will be represented by Raul Marcelo, the agency’s deputy administrator for business, and Capt. Perfecto Pascual, who is general manager of the SBMA Seaport Department.

Marcelo said the meeting will be held in preparation for ACTA’s formal launch this October.

The Pro-Tem committee, he explained, acts as an interim committee which oversees ACTA before its formal launch.

“The Subic meeting will also serve as a venue for the validation and ratification of the ACTA constitution and by-laws, which was discussed during the first Pro-Tem meeting in Singapore,” added Marcelo, who was there to represent Subic along with Pascual.

ACTA is a non-profit organization created in response to a need for common understanding among owners and operators of cruise terminals and ports across Asia to upgrade to an international level of services and operations that cruise lines expect.

The association aims to provide for a cruise-friendly environment, and a vehicle for regional cooperation in terminal development, operations and management.

The group also seeks to promote cruise terminal facilities and services internationally, targeting to establish an influential alliance leading to the emergence of a captivating Asia cruise playground.

Marcelo said that as part of SBMA’s thrust to make Subic Bay a prime logistics, maritime and tourist hub, the agency will facilitate the development of Subic as a cruise-ship destination by being an active member of ACTA. (SBMA Corporate Communications)

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