THE Provincial Council of Negros Occidental has passed on third and final reading the resolution authorizing Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. to enter into a loan agreement with the Land Bank of the Philippines in the amount of P1.2 billion to finance the various infrastructure projects.
Second District Board Member Salvador Escalante Jr., chairman of the Provincial Council committee on appropriations, budget, and finance, said the amount will be utilized for the construction of the new Provincial Administration Center amounting to P900 million.
They will also renovate the Eleuterio T. Decena Memorial District Hospital in Hinoba-an for P125 million.
The renovation will also include the various facilities and equipment for Mambukal Convention Hotel and Tourist Lodge, Negros First Hotel, and Negros Pala-Pala and Food Terminal amounting to P175 million.
Escalante said, “we had a lengthy meeting and we were able to thresh out the queries of the members of the board.”
The new PAC will stand in a 16,000 square meter lot with a total floor area of six floors and a basement parking area.
The cost of development per square meter will be P38, 000 per square meter.
The cost of the building is P624 million and the remaining P276 million will go to the furniture and fixtures, generator, four elevators, being a six-storey building, Escalante said.
The province currently has P1.7 billion loan. But we only utilized around P900 million, he said.
The P600 million is still being subjected to a public bidding, he added.
The P300 million of which will be used for the furniture and fixtures of the Mambukal Convention Hotel and Tourist Lodge which they hope to start their operation by December.
The remaining P900 million will be utilized in the next three and a half years, he said.