ACTING Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama envisions the South Road Properties (SRP) to equal or be even better than the waterfront developments in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Unlike Dubai’s multi-billion dollar reclamation and development projects where artificial lakes had to be made to accommodate some structures and where traffic is a problem, Rama said the City Government is starting from scratch and can plan the developments carefully.
This, as he welcomed the Provincial Government’s plan to challenge Filinvest Land Inc.’s (FLI) unsolicited proposal to develop a 50-hectare portion of the SRP.
Rama said the City will evaluate all proposals from developers to buy SRP lots or undertake a joint venture with the City Government.
He reminded the Provincial Government, though, that there are certain procedures and laws covering joint venture arrangements that will have to be followed, as well as guidelines covering transactions between two local government units (LGUs).
“Any interested party can come in, as long as they are qualified, as long as they will all go through the procedures. Considering that it will come from the Province and it’s the governor making the move, as we have experienced, we don’t want to be misinterpreted... Just let all the interested parties be guided that there are procedures that have to be complied with,” Rama said.
He said he will need to get authority from the council to negotiate with the Province, in the same way that Gov. Gwen Garcia will have to be authorized by the Provincial
Board to negotiate with the City once the FLI offer is bid out.
Rama, who just arrived from the Urban Waterfronts Regional Conference in Dubai, said he is confident the SRP will be a successful project.
Money, tourism
“There is money, tourism and jobs in waterfront developments and there will be more money coming in when we fully develop our waterfront. The SRP, beyond doubt, is suited for similar waterfront development project and can surpass, if not equal, what Dubai has,” he said.
He said the City Government will just have to make sure that development will be studied carefully so that environmental protection is also not left out.
During the four-day conference that he attended with Cebu Investment and Promotion Center (CIPC) Managing Director Joel Mari Yu, Rama said he learned of innovations and development designs that are applicable at the SRP.
CIPC is the marketing arm of the 302-hectare SRP.
“I told Tommy that the traffic in Dubai is terrible, but tourists are everywhere. So in that aspect, we can make things better because we don’t have buildings yet, and we can plan and coordinate carefully the design of the SRP to include the Bus Rapid Transit to avoid traffic,” Rama said.
Also, the City can use the unfilled Pond A area of the SRP to house “floating” villas, to replicate what Dubai’s five-star and seven-star hotels have been doing.
While the hotels in Dubai had to build an artificial lake to accommodate the floating villas, the City already has a water-filled Pond A.
Meanwhile, the JVSC will resume negotiations with FLI representatives on Thursday before finalizing the joint venture agreement and publishing the details for the competitive bidding. (b>(LCR)
