CJH DEVCO EYES P6.16B PROJECTS

March 23, 2024 Headlines

Waste to energy plant in Sablan and Baguio monorail

BAGUIO CITY

The Camp John Hay Development Corporation, the developer of the former American baseland, is eyeing two big projects that will help address two of the city’s most pressing problems. CJHDevCo chairman Robert John Sobrepena told local media during a press conference at the Louie Y’s Bar at the (Forest) Lodge that a total of US110 million (roughly PhP6.16 billion) will be used to fund the two projects, one of which will be in the neighboring t0own of Sablan. Sobrepena said that the US55 million waste to energy plant will produce 15 megawatt of clean energy to be sold to the Benguet Electric Cooperative not just as clean energy but also a reliable source.

The WTE plant that will rise in a six hectare property the company is trying to purchase from a Sablan local will need 500 tons of waste from Baguio and the LISTT towns of Benguet – La Trinidad, Itogon as well as Tuba and Tublay aside from the host town. Sobrepena said that CJHDevCo has been talking with local residents and the leadership to assure thm that they will comply with all environmental permits as well as observe environmentally sound practices including the non-piling of waste. Sobrepena said that the in order to get the 500 tons, they might also purchase waste from the nearby La Union.

“This will be a big saving for the city with PhP190 million annually used to transport Baguio’s waste to Tarlac,” said
Sobrepena. Moreover, the second project would help solve traffic in the city as CJHDevCo eye the US$60 million electric transport which will be powered by the WTE energy plant in Sablan. The 4.7 kilometer monorail will service the downtown area leading to CJH, Made of aluminum, the rail will be about 10 feet high from the ground and will be built at the middle of the proposed route. The material will be so light, including the electric bus, which is also made of aluminum.

Sobrepena said that they are now in the process of getting the free prior informed consent of the locals of Sablan and the permits from the 21 government agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, among others. He said that they are looking at a six to eight months to comply with all the permits, while construction of the infrastructures could be made in the two to three years. He said Mayor Benjamin Magalong is willing to have the city invest in the construction of the WTE plant by helping purchase the lot eyed. He said that mayors of the five Benguet towns are also considering into investing in the project. Once finished, the WTE plant could generate 200 jobs, while the monorail could employ 500 to 600 locals.

Pigeon Lobien/ABN