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Sunday, December 18, 2005
Governor hints at ‘unconventional’ funding for project
Capitol is considering a proposal that is “out of the box, unconventional and untraditional, but has been tried and tested and has shown itself to have worked” for its megadome project.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia will be meeting with Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. and the Provincial Board (PB) members tomorrow to discuss her proposal, which she described as a win-win solution.
“We have a proposal that may be in consonance or in full agreement with their (the PB’s) wish that government funds may not necessarily be fully spent for the project. The proposal takes into consideration the urgency of the project, availability of funds and more revenues for the province,” Garcia said.
In 2003, an appropriation of P250 million was approved for the megadome project. The amount remains a continuing fund.
But former governor Pablo Garcia, Gwendolyn’s father, and the previous Provincial Board had clashed over the project.
Governor Garcia confirmed that Mandaue City will still be the site of the multimillion-peso project, but she appreciates the offer of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to give a 2.1-hectare lot in the South Reclamation Project for the megadome.
She confirmed that putting up a megadome for the Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) summit next year has been discussed with President Arroyo, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., and Mayor Osmeña during their trip last week to Kuala Lumpur, where this year’s summit was held.
This is will be first time Cebu will be hosting the Asean gathering of heads of state from the 10 member-countries.
The Philippines is willing to spend P1 billion for the entire event, but Garcia said they have not discussed if the National Government will give a financial counterpart in building the megadome.
“This I can say, the first consideration is urgency of the project. I would rather be in total control in so far as capital, management and execution of the project are concerned. We will welcome any assistance from the National Government, but I will not make that as an excuse for any delays in the execution of the project,” Garcia said.
Casino a no-no
The Malaysian Government built the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center especially for the Asean summit.
The Waterfront International Convention Center in the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug, Cebu City is “the nearest Cebu has” for the summit.
“A summit of this stature usually should not be held in a hotel. Further, the fact that there’s a casino might pose image problems. The option was the casino would have to close during the entire summit, which means losses in revenues, but we still would not be able to hide the fact that a casino exists there,” Garcia said.
The biggest challenge that the project is facing is whether it can be made in one year, since the Asean summit is scheduled in December next year.
Double-time
“That is the challenge that all of us must face and in many times past, Cebuanos have proven themselves equal to the challenges,” the governor said, adding that she will be closely working with Sanchez, who is a civil engineer.
Sanchez has said the project can be done in one year but the contractor has to work double-time.
The spinning disc design of Alexus Medalla that won the contest that Capitol launched three years ago will still be used for the project.
“The design has already the complete structural detailed engineering, and that is the most important because that takes months to finish. At least we have headway there already. What needs concentration now will be the electrical and plumbing,” Garcia said. (MBG)
(December 18, 2005 issue)
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