Monday, June 11, 2007 Terminal donor hits City Hall on accord By Danilo V. Adorador III
THE donor of the property where the present Gusa eastbound terminal stands accused the Cagayan de Oro City Government of violating the contract governing the land donation.
Businessman James Giam donated the 4,784 square-meter lot to the City Government in 2002, on the condition that the city would use it as a jeepney terminal for eastbound passenger vehicles entering the city.
But Giam claimed that the City Government is on the verge of signing a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract with a private firm to redevelop the Agora market and terminal--placing his property in limbo and him losing the businesses he put up in the adjoining properties he owned.
Under the Agora BOT contract, he said all provincial public utility vehicles now being accommodated by the Gusa eastbound terminal will be stationed in the soon-to-be redeveloped Agora terminal.
"It appears that they (city officials) want to throw this property out because they're done with it, and because they stand to benefit from this Agora BOT contract," Giam said. He did not elaborate.
Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, chairman of public utility and communications committee, said the City Council has already approved the Agora BOT contract, but denied any move to have the Gusa terminal placed in the sidelines.
"It will definitely be used by the City Government as a terminal. There is no move to have that abandoned," said Nacaya, who noted that under the donation agreement with Giam, the property would revert back to the donor's ownership once the city stops using it as a terminal.
While the Agora BOT contract may have included PUJs presently stationed in Gusa terminal, the councilor said the "implementing guidelines of the BOT contract will ensure that no violation is committed against the agreement governing Mr. Giam's donation."
Aside from that, Nacaya said transferring the provincial PUJs to Agora terminal "would congest the entire place." The Agora terminal houses passenger vans and regional buses.
