Tuesday, September 30, 2008 Committee on JV to sit down today
MEMBERS of the Joint Venture Selection Committee (JV-SC) were identified yesterday and will be convened this afternoon for the evaluation of Filinvest Land Inc.’s (FLI) unsolicited proposal to develop a 50-hectare portion of the South Road Properties (SRP).
Cebu City Administrator Francisco Fernandez, the chairman of the committee, said they hope to finish evaluating the documents in one week.
The other committee members are City Hall lawyer Joseph Bernaldez, former city administrators Juan Saul Montecillo and Alan Gaviola, General Services Office Chief Ester Cubero and City Treasurer Rene Empaces.
A representative of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Picpa) will also sit in the committee as an observer.
“I will notify them of their membership and the group will convene tomorrow afternoon to inform them of the task—that we have to study the JV proposal in one week. My target is to finish it in one week so that next session, it will be referred to the City Council for preliminary recommendation,” Fernandez said yesterday.
The unsolicited proposal of FLI is for the outright purchase of a 10-hectare lot amounting to some P2 billion and the development of another 40 hectares under a JV with the City Government.
FLI has announced that the firm will invest some P80 billion at the SRP.
Because of the extent of their operations and those of other interested investors, City Hall has started initial talks with the Aznar family for the possible purchase of a portion of their estate in Barangay Toong.
The 50-hectare to 100-hectare property is being eyed as a relocation site and an area to address the housing needs of the thousands of future workers in the SRP.
Aside from the Toong property, the City also plans to purchase a portion of the property of the Aznars in Barangay Poblacion Pardo for the highway that will be constructed from the SRP to Pardo.
The highway is seen to give the public easier access to Toong.
Fernandez said the Aznars have already asked for a meeting with city officials to discuss further the proposal to buy their properties.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), on the other hand, is non-committal on whether or not it will look into the highway construction in the study it is conducting for the SRP’s utilities.
“The Aznars have asked to have a meeting because they want to discuss our plans. As for the ADB, they have not said that they will include the highway in their studies but they are considering the possibility,” Fernandez said.
“But we feel that it should be part of their study. With the SRP, it should be assumed that there will be growth, and we have to be prepared for that growth,” he added. (LCR)
