HEARING SET FOR BINALIW DEVELOPMENT

ARN Builders denies they are responsible for the earth-moving activities in the area where their project is located.

The Cebu City Zoning Board will hold a public hearing today to discuss a private contractor’s proposed solid waste management facility in the mountain barangay of Binaliw.

ARN Builders, which is owned by Arnold Espinoza, is asking the board to grant its variance applica- tion for the land’s use so that they can develop the area into a sanitary landfill.

The public hearing will be held at the office of the General Services Office in City Hall.

If there will be opposition to ARN Builders’ solid waste management project, Zoning Administrator Nigel Paul Villarete said it will also be discussed during the hearing.

Last April, the representatives of ARN Builders said they are only constructing a one-hectare leach- ate pond in Binaliw.

The project attracted the attention of local officials and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 7 for alleged earth-moving activities in the area.

ARN Builders initially wanted to develop some 20 hectares of land.

In a technical conference last April 4, the private contractor said it will commit to the ceaseand-desist order issued by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) and pay the penalty of P50,000 for allegedly operating without an environmental compliance certificate (ECC).

Lawyer Ervin Estandarte, who represented ARN Builders, though, denied that the contractor started developing the propery without an ECC.

He also denied that the company is responsible for the earth-moving activities in the area.

He said that many small-scale mining firms have been conducting hauling operations even before they started their project. /