DO whatever it is you want to do with the South Road Properties (SRP) but please, leave Pond A alone.
You want to build a terminal for public utility vehicles? Be my guest. You want to establish a government center within the 295-hectare facility? Go ahead.
In fact, I insist that you start setting fiber optics so current and future occupants of the mixed-use development will have quick internet connection.
On Friday, July 12, 2019, former Cebu City councilor Jose Daluz III, SRP manager, bared Mayor Edgardo Labella’s plans for the reclaimed properties during his first term, which are expected to boost investments in the area.
I don’t see why not.
I also agree that an additional entry and exit point is needed to avoid traffic congestion in Barangay Mambaling. Right now, the SRP can only be accessed from Mambaling, Talisay City and the Malacañang sa Sugbo downtown.
To be honest, I have no idea where they’ll put one up but they can always try the sea. I mean, all that coast can be put to use right beside the south coastal road. Right? The City can build a small port for public utility ferries. After all, who says that everyone going to the SRP must do so on two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicles?
Let me see, the SRP already has two malls that are in close proximity to each other. Okay, maybe not that close if you have to walk, but the fact that you can see one from the other means it is close enough. And you know that also means that there will be two of everything.
For example, if you have one fastfood joint in mall A, how much do you want to bet that the same fastfood joint will also be in mall B? The same goes for clothing stores, groceries and hardware stores etc.
Are you seeing double yet?
There were plans to build a sports arena in the area. I think that should be revisited. I know the mayor is an avid walker, so maybe the City can set up another oval at the SRP. That way the Cebu City Sports Center won’t be crammed with every Juan and Maria trying to burn off excess energy.
I also know the City Government needs money so it can deliver basic services and the SRP has been underutilized because former mayor Tomas Osmeña wanted all development to happen while he was in power, but public officials should also consider the welfare of their constituents.
Do they want the SRP to be another concrete jungle? By the way, that was rhetorical.
Now you see why I’m dead set against filling Pond A? It will be an oasis in an urban desert of horizontal and vertical development. Or something like that. But if Labella thinks there is no other choice, then so be it.
However, he might want to consider what his predecessor had thought of 12 years ago.
Back when Osmeña was still the Osmeña many people, myself included, supported and adored, he proposed setting aside two hectares of reclaimed land to be developed into a nature park that will be designed to accommodate migratory birds.
He even asked the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines to make him a project proposal.
Anyway, I thought he was on the right track.
“The presence of birds will enhance the attractiveness of the SRP,” the former mayor once said.
And that, in turn, might attract eco-friendly investors.
What say you?