HOMEGROWN firm Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) officially broke ground on the construction of the 100-hectare Minglanilla Techno Business Park (Ming-Mori) reclamation in Minglanilla, Cebu on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021.
Officials said the civil construction works are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2022, side by side with various infrastructure improvements surrounding and leading towards the site.
This ambitious project will be completed by 2025.
CLI holds an 80 percent stake in Ming-Mori Development Corp., developer of the technohub.
Ming-Mori is expected to generate more than 700,000 square meters of saleable land area earmarked for light industrial, commercial, residential and institutional uses.
The remaining 300,000 square meters will be dedicated to roads and generous green and open spaces.
Titling of these properties will be done in phases starting in 2023, in time for Phase 1 building construction by 2024 and the anticipated strong post-pandemic economic recovery in the Visayas and Mindanao.
CLI’s participation in the project will allow the listed company to supersede its target of acquiring 200,000 square meters in new landbank as runway for its growth up to the end of the decade and into the next.
Ming-Mori is an eight-year-in-the-making project. The group started work on this way back in 2013.
CLI obtained the final Notice to Proceed from the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) early this month.
“This is a testament of government in action, government-government cooperation, public-private partnership and the harmonization of decentralization and centralization, on the other hand,” said Philippine Reclamation Authority chairperson of the Governing Board Al Agra.
Minglanilla Mayor Elanito Peña reiterated that the reclamation project will open plenty of job and economic opportunities for generations to come.
“This (project) will attract investors and businesses, making Minglanilla one of the biggest commercial centers in the south,” said Peña, adding that the project will have economic ripple effects on neighboring towns as well.
“People in Minglanilla will no longer have to travel far to work,” he added.
Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas Jr., who represented Cebu 1st District Rep. Eduardo Gullas, meanwhile, lauded the progress of Minglanilla’s reclamation project.
“I really believe that reclamation is very important as far as development in the south of Cebu is concerned. Development is going out of Cebu City, and the first beneficiaries of this development are Minglanilla, and of course Talisay City,” said Gullas.
He noted that while progress also bring challenges, like traffic congestion, developments in the coastal areas such as the Ming-Mori reclamation project will help decongest the expected vehicular buildup.
CLI chairman and chief executive officer Jose Soberano III said CLI is “committed to the transformation of this area into a vibrant and sustainable waterfront community that will have wide-ranging benefits for Minglanilla and the southern part of Cebu.”
Ming-Mori has been masterplanned by globally acclaimed Singapore-based Surbana Jurong Consultants, one of the most successful urban and infrastructure consulting firms in Asia with projects in over 30 countries. (KOC)