Tom opposes South Road Properties authority

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said yesterday that will not allow the creation of an authority to manage the multi-billion South Road Properties.

“It can become a monster. SRP is owned by the city, it should be controlled by the city. Even if I will be chosen to head that authority, no way. It should never be,” he said in a press conference yesterday.

Osmeña said that he is now asking the people of Cebu to support his plan in making SRP a big plus for Cebu.

“SRP is not going back to the sea. Since it’s already there, we have to maximize what we have. Profit is not the main consideration but economic development. No matter what, SRP is always a big plus for Cebu,” the mayor said.

The mayor even said if a prestigious organization like the United Nations or the Japanese Embassy would like to put up a building at SRP, he can give a portion of the lot for free.

“Why not? Can you imagine, the United Nation having its building at SRP. That would make Cebu prestigious. We should not have a stagnant mind and bureaucrats are like that,” the mayor said.

But as of now, Osmeña said that the main priority of the city once SRP sales are made is to pay its loan.

Osmeña said that the city will be paying P700 million this year as payment of its SRP loan.

The mayor admitted that it has been hard paying for the loan but the city has survived although some of the services were sacrificed in the name of development.

Among the benefits they had to hold off to pay the loan was the P2,000 promised to 28,000 senior citizens in the city per month.

But the mayor said that starting next year this will already be implemented provided that the senior citizens are registered voters of the city.

The city government is currently negotiating with Filinvest Land Inc. for a possible joint venture. The latter is proposing to develop at least 50 hectares at the SRP. – Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/BRP