Sustainable development is the guiding line for the ambitious social and environmental program sponsored and implemented in the region by the project company STEAG State Power, Inc. (SPI) –
from housing construction through reforestation to vocational training .When SPI came to Villanueva in 2003, it did not only bring with it the promise of providing a safe, efficient and environmentally-compatible power plant that will address the challenge of attaining stability of power supply in Mindanao. It also brought with it a new ray of hope for the local residents of Villanueva — a new kind of optimism that they could soon partake of the blessings of SPI’s Comprehensive and Integrated Social Development Program.
Enterprise Development
In building self-reliant communities, SPI has initiated community-based livelihood income-generating projects that are financially viable, productive and innovative economic enterprises. The Villa Kusina Project for one has evolved into a self-sustaining food catering service provider whose products and services are considerably at par with leading restaurants in the region. Its menu covers a wide array of choices ranging from exquisite Filipino, Chinese and even German cuisines. An impressive new Villa Kusina building proudly stands near the power plant. The edifice has become a fitting icon that people look up to as an affirmative model for empowering women.At the San Roque Gawad Kalinga Relocation site, another group composed of 16 women are producing individually handcrafted greeting cards to provide for the yearend corporate giveaways of SPIs parent company STEAG AG based in Essen, Germany and other local companies operating in the region. For two consecutive years now, about 23,000 individually handcrafted greeting cards were manufactured and substantially augmenting meager income of the women and their respective families. SPI remains optimistic that this venture will eventually grow into a thriving enterprise.Also at the relocation site, what used to be a 3,000 square meter demo organic garden has now expanded into a sprawling 1.4 hectare Communal Garden and Integrated Farming Project producing livestock and high-value crops --- thereby providing additional income for families involved in the project. Meanwhile, vendors at the Villanueva Public Market and other small-scale entrepreneurs have started to take advantage of SPIs Micro-Financing Project. Aside from providing access to affordable credit, beneficiaries are taught the value of savings and capital build-up.
Social and Human Development Services
SPI has continued providing social and human development services, complimenting efforts of other stakeholders and development players in the area. In its host towns of Villanueva and Tagoloan , around 1,350 indigent families have gained access to a Socialized Health Insurance Program as SPI provided the necessary counterpart funds for the payment of their annual insurance premium. These families can now avail of better medical services that they have been deprived of in the past for reasons of poverty.Thousands of local residents in the area had also been provided free medical, dental and optical services during a series of Medical Missions conducted in collaboration with agencies of national and municipal government units. A local health center in Villanueva was provided with health apparatus, thereby improving the quality of health services to the people. Cases of water-borne diseases have declined as a result of SPI’s provision and installation of safe and potable water systems in several communities and public schools.The health of children at the Sibol Daycare center have improved significantly as SPI continue to undertake periodic supplemental feeding projects.
Recognizing the value of building a brighter future for the youth, SPI has continued to invest in efforts aimed at improving the quality of education, especially in less-privileged communities. Along this line, SPI has facilitated provision of more than 2,500 study chairs to all public schools in its host communities – attaining for them a zero-gap in ratio between students and chairs in the area. Apart from bridging the gap, the study chairs project provided additional income for local carpenters who were trained and engaged by SPI in the manufacturing of the chairs.Leveraging its own resources, SPI also mobilized contributions from its partners and other stakeholders resulting in the provision of grants and aids to public schools ranging from school building construction, beautification projects, provision of potable water systems, educational TV materials, equipment and textbooks.For its long-term education development interventions, SPI has partnered with the Department of Education (DepEd) through the Adopt-a-School Program where convergence of resources will take place and prioritization of high impact projects will be adopted to ensure quantifiable and realistic attainment of educational improvement targets.
More than 400 out-of-school youth underwent a series of construction skills training initiated by SPI site management in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Local Government of Villanueva and the sub-contractors of SPI. About 97% of those trained were hired by contractors as skilled workers at the power plant project while the rest have used their skills in other productive endeavors within the region. This approach has become a model of how skills development intervention could provide opportunities for employment and jobs creation.
Numerous social-cultural enhancement activities have been implemented to promote, among other things, positive Filipino values, customs and traditions. SPI likewise supported and participated in local initiatives that help maintain law and order, local productivity and youth development initiatives ranging from skills, talents and even sports development