Peza urges Lapu-Lapu council to draft resolution against second runway

THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) has requested the Lapu-Lapu City Council to draft an opposition resolution against the proposed second runway of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), the construction of which would displace the locators at the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) 1.

Peza Director General and Zone Administrator for Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) Brigadier General Charito Plaza said the City Council should take a stand on the ongoing issue.

“We should be united in our opposition against the second runway,” Plaza urged.

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan renewed his support for the affected locators of the MEZ 1, saying they will rally behind the companies that hired 57,000 employees.

Chan said the 150 locators feed the families of the residents in the city. He said MEZ 1 is one of the city’s major income generators.

“MEZ 1 is the biggest contributor to our city’s economy. We cannot afford to lose MEZ 1,” Chan said during a meeting on Monday, Feb. 3, 2020 attended by Peza and the Mactan Export Processing Zone Chamber of Exporters and Manufacturers (Mepzcem).

“Rest assured the local government is on your side. The vice mayor and the city councilors also, we are willing to help the locators,” he added.

Santhana Krishnan Vaidiswaran, president of Mepzcem, said they are grateful for the council’s support and hope this would translate to a concrete action that will resolve the issue.

“We are okay with the idea of the second runway. It’s just the current proposal displaces the 150 locators, 60,000 employees and the whole impact on the economy. We want to understand what the stand of the city council is. And their stand will be more solid and more respected,” he said, in an earlier interview.

Plaza said building the second runway would result in billions of pesos in economic losses as locators are now considering the option of bringing their businesses to other countries.

Should they be removed from MEZ 1, the locators would demand from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) compensation of at least US$2.3 billion to cover relocation costs. They said the MCIAA should also shoulder an additional $4 billion for loss of revenue and expired inventory.

These costs of relocation, and a call for clarification of the plan, were contained in a Dec. 13, 2019 letter of the Mepzcem and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cebu (JCCI-CI) addressed to MCIAA general manger Steve Dicdican.

MEZ 1 locators are mostly foreign companies such as watch manufacturer TMX Philippines Inc., electronic components manufacturer Taiyo Yuden (Phils) Inc. and manufacturers of garments, furniture and semiconductor process equipment.

The relocation of MEZ 1 companies is part of the MCIAA’s 50-year master plan for the airport, which includes the construction of a second runway and a third passenger terminal. The locators will be moved to the proposed special economic zone that will be opened in a 300-hectare reclaimed area in Barangay Ibo to pave the way for the runway construction.

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