AT the risk of sounding envious, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña criticized the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center for its study that named Lapu-Lapu City as one of the country’s top 25 competitive cities.
Osmeña said the Lapu-Lapu City Government should not be credited for its infrastructure, including the international airport and the export zones there.
“I might sound sour-graping but I don’t think highly of AIM, not like before. They have no track record in bringing in investors and in understanding local government,” he
told a news conference yesterday.
In its 2007 Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project, AIM ranked Lapu-Lapu City as one of the six metro cities of the top 25 performing cities in the country. Cebu City did not make it to the list.
Standards
“They want to give an award, that’s fine but I don’t think we should model ourselves to their standards... These people are stupid. MEZ (Mactan Export Zone) and the airport are not under the City, it has its own administration, so how can the credit go to the Lapu-Lapu City Government?” Osmeña said.
Lapu-Lapu’s infrastructure and the cost of doing business there earned high scores for the city.
In his first news conference after his two-week vacation in the US, Osmeña said that in terms of infrastructure, Lapu-Lapu is 20 years behind Cebu City.
Cebu City, he said, conceptualized the South Road Properties 20 years ago yet while Lapu-Lapu City was just starting to plan its reclamation project.
Osmeña also said that most of Lapu-Lapu City’s infrastructure are the results of his and former governor Lito Osmeña’s hard work. (LCR)
