Tomas to Hire Inmates for SRP (July 2006)

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has found a way to temporarily solve the congestion problems at the city jail: hire some of them to work at the South Reclamation Project (SRP).

Osmeña said his idea will not only decongest the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) during the day, it will also give
inmates an opportunity to earn.

In a news conference yesterday, the mayor said the City Government is not capable of helping manage the jail facility at this time, as suggested by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City Chapter.

“We are not going to support BJMP because of the corruption in their system. What we have to do if we’re going to take over is that we’re going to take over the entire operations, and I don’t have the internal management capability to do that,” he said.

The IBP suggested that the City Government take over the management of BBRC after seeing that the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), which is managed by the Capitol, is faring better in terms of management.

But Osmeña said the BBRC cannot be compared with CPDRC. Unlike the governor, he said he doesn’t have the time and capability to look after the inmates because of several other facilities and issues he has to worry about like the city hospital, public markets and the vendors.

Taking over the BBRC will only cause problems for the City Government and will strain City Hall’s internal capabilities.

He added that it’s easier for Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to help manage CPDRC because in managing the Province, she has all the municipal and city mayors to help her.

“She doesn’t get involved in the nitty-gritty of things and she has the luxury and capability to look at these problems. In my case, I still have problems with other things,” he said.

Also yesterday, the mayor announced plans to hire some inmates to do manual labor at the SRP in the coming months.

If the plan pushes through, the City will pay the inmate P100 for a day’s work and provide them with meals.

He said, though, that the plan will take several months to be implemented as everything will depend on whether the judges will allow them to work.

“Under this concept, we’ll be selecting prisoners who only have few months left to work, the ones who are considered low risk.

At least they have the opportunity to save so that when they are released, they’re not zero balance. This will at least bring down the congestion during the day,” he told reporters.

The mayor plans to have the inmates make sandbags that will be used as base for the internal roads at the SRP.

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Japan Investors Plan to Build Hospital in SRP (July 2006)

Japan investors plan to build hospital in SRP

CEBU CITY – A group of Japanese businessmen has expressed interest to put up a hospital or a retirement facility at the South Reclamation Project (SRP) here.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena said such plan was signified by the Japanese businessmen during his week-long visit to Japan to market the reclamation project.

Osmena said these prospective investors have visited Cebu several times but have not been to the SRP.

During his State of the City Address (Soca) on Monday, Osmena said, the city government was working on development projects that were expected to enhance the marketability of the SRP, now titled in the name of the city government.

The mayor said an investor is buying 20-hectare of about 300-hectare reclamation project for the establishment of a container van manufacturing company, while another investor is also leasing 20-hectare of reclaimed lot.

The city is now focusing on development works to improve the SRP’s marketability. The development works include the establishment of a 1.4-kilometer beach and boardwalk in Pond F, and the completion of Phase 1 of the Senior Citizens Building.

Osmena said the establishment of amenities that include electricity, water and internal road network is also now in progress. The development works would be made parallel to the marketing of the reclaimed lots, he said.

The mayor made presentations with several companies in Japan.

”Many small companies that are doing new things in Japan are coming to Cebu to take a look at our situation because historically, we attract big investors. Now, we also wanted to attract the smaller companies that are doing some innovations in certain fields,” he said.

Osmena said at least five to six of these smaller companies, whom he referred to as “innovators”, have expressed interest on the SRP.

He said another Japanese firm is hiring skilled retirees to work for them on-line. It now has at least 1,000 employees.

”These are the companies that we need to bring to Cebu instead of just focusing on those bigger companies,” he said.

Joel Yu, head of the Cebu Investment promotions Center (CIPC), accompanied Osmena to Japan to the week-long visit to Japan that ended last July 1.

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