The Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. inaugurated yesterday its first Micro-Hydro Power project in Sitio Mambucano, Brgy. Cabatangan, Talisay City.

With a budget of P2.2 million, provided by the United Nations Development Program, AIDFI repaired an old canal leading to the water source in the mountains, cemented a 2.2-kilometer canal extension, constructed a powerhouse and battery charging facility, put up electric poles with big wires that connect the generator to the chargers.

Auke Idzenga of AIDFI said they were motivated by the goal to generate hydro power using a locally fabricated Pelton turbine and to provide employment for people in the host community. The group found an ideal site for its first hydro project in Sitio Mambucano where AIDFI have contacts with the farmers' cooperative CAFARMULCO.

Two sites in Negros on offer
for development of coal fuel

Two sites in Negros Island have been identified as "areas on offer" for coal energy development by the Department of Energy.

The areas are located in Calatrava, Negros Occidental, within three barangays, Macasilao, Bongabon-Ania and Matatas, and in Bayawan City, Oriental Negros, also within three sites.

DOE data on the Philippine Energy Contracting Round show that Calatrava has an estimated coal reserve of 2.02 million metric tons while Bayawan, 4.5 million metric tons.

Tobacco billboard
ads ban takes effect

MANILA - A ban on billboard advertising for tobacco products came into force in the Philippines yesterday amid a legal challenge by cigaret manufacturers.

The Department of Health has ordered local governments to enforce the ban by pulling down all outdoor advertising of cigarettes, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said. "While a war against cigarets is sweeping entire continents to create a tobacco-free world, we cannot be the last nation standing without the political will to take the necessary steps against tobacco advertisements," he told a news conference.

The Tobacco Control Act was passed in 2003 but the government chose to enforce it only four years later.

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