Manila closes coal stockpile facility

The Manila City government on Friday once again ordered the shutdown of a coal stockpile in Tondo after the company running it failed to secure a request for the lifting of an earlier suspension order served on the facility last year.

Manila Bureau of Permits director Fortune Mayuga said that they suspended the operations of the coal stockpile facility run by Rock Energy International Corp. last July because the company was operating without a sanitary permit. However, a resolution by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in October ordered the temporary lifting of the suspension order.

Mayuga said that despite the DENR resolution, Rock Energy should have submitted to the Manila City Hall a letter requesting the lifting of the suspension before resuming operations.

The coal stockpile facility will remain closed pending Rock Energy’s submission of requirements for its sanitary permit as well as documents issued by the DENR regarding the temporary lifting of the suspension, Mayuga added.

Residents of Barangay 105, where the coal stockpile facility is located, recently staged a protest on Road 10 in Tondo, calling for its permanent closure because of the growing number of cases of respiratory diseases, mostly among children.

Abegail Bollosa, media officer of a local alliance formed by Barangay 105 residents, said that a 7-year-old boy has been confined in the hospital for the past three months due to carbon poisoning. She added that around 200 individuals have also been experiencing asthma symptoms because of exposure to coal dust.