Mega sardine maker gets slap on wrist for polluting sea

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) is set to issue an order giving Ayala Seafoods Corp., maker of Mega brand sardines, 30 days to comply with government standards, after the company was found violating the Clean Water Act. Jonas R. Leones, PAB officer-in-charge and assistant director, said the decision was made Friday after the board deliberated on the merits of Ayala Seafoods' proposal to rectify a mechanical failure which had forced the company to dump wastewater into the sea. The PAB, an agency under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), earlier issued a cease-and-desist order on Ayala Seafoods' canning plant and sister company Mega Fishing Corp.'s fish feed meal plant in this city effective Dec. 31. An inspection team had noticed that the plant's wastewater treatment facility failed to meet standards set by the government. "During the 30-day period [that temporarily allows the company to operate], our inspection team will again take some samples," Leones told BusinessWorld. He said the samples are necessary to determine if the company is following the requirements of the Clean Water Act. "After the 30-day period, we will sit down with the company officials and discuss other measures, such as the settlement of fines imposed," he said. Leones said that based on the Clean Water Act, the fine ranges from P10,000 and to a maximum of P200,000 per day. The fine will start from the time the findings were released, up to the day the company corrects the deficiency. "We are expecting the signed order lifting [the cease-and-desist order] on Ayala Seafoods and the Mega fish meal plant," said William Tiu Lim, president of Ayala Seafoods and Mega Fishing. Lim said the Industrial Group of Zamboanga, Inc., a trade association of fishing firms and canners here, would soon conduct a dialogue with the DENR on the procedures during plant inspection as well as compliance with other requirements. He pointed out that the inspection of the Ayala Seafoods plant was done in April last year and that since August, his firms have made improvements in wastewater treatment facilities. This includes new mechanical equipment purchased from the US to comply with local and international standards, he said. Lim said he had asked the PAB as early as August to again inspect the plants to avoid receiving a temporary shutdown order. He claimed the PAB took several months before acting on the request, and eventually issued the cease-and-desist order in December. The Ayala Seafoods plant, he clarified, did not entirely stop operations. "The packaging and the labeling operations are not included. What we temporary halted is the cooking operation," he told BusinessWorld in a separate interview. Ayala Seafoods is one of three among 10 sardines manufacturers in Zamboanga City that are into exports. Its products can be found in at least 45 countries around the globe. The company is considered one of the biggest canning factories in this city, which supplies roughly 90 percent of canned sardines to the domestic market. Mega Fishing operates seven sets of commercial deep-sea purse seines, totaling 55 fishing vessels. Its Web site claims the vessels are fully equipped with sonar and fish finders to "gain a competitive edge in the industry." Mega Fishing has its own marginal wharf, dry-docking and repair facilities, a 360-ton ice plant considered the biggest in Mindanao, and a 600-metric-ton cold storage plant. — Darwin T. Wee, BusinessWorld