Lack of consultants hounds ADB project (South Road Properties)

By Marian Z. Codilla
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 15:09:00 11/12/2008

Cebu City, Philippines - The search for four more consultants has pushed back the start of an Asian Development Bank (ADB) technical assistance study on the South Road Properties (SRP) from last Monday to the end of the month.

John-Olof Vinterfav, land management specialist of the ADB-Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA), said the group still needs to find four more consultants to complete the set of eight consultants for the pre-feasibility study of the utilities that would be used in the SRP.

The technical assistance project is covered by a $499,000 grant from the ADB and will cover the study for the water supply, district cooling, urban planning, social concerns, legal issues, financing, environment and transportation in the SRP.

Vinterfav said the results of the study will be implemented by the Cebu City government to help improve the SRP.

However, the target date to start the study will have to be moved to the end of November or as soon as the group can hire the consultants.

The study will be done in two phases -- the first phase will involve the investment priority plan while the second phase will involve the pre-feasibility study of the SRP.

The second phase of the project will also determine the costs of the projects to be undertaken at the SRP and the activities and the kind of projects that would be undertaken in the area.

The first phase is expected to start from end of November to January next year while the second phase will follow on February until November next year.

“We are assisting the city in defining what needs to be done in the SRP and not to assist the investors although we also need to listen to them as we know there are a lot of investors interested in the properties,” Vinterfav said.

He said the Bus Rapid Transit system and the plan to connect the SRP to barangays (villages) Pardo and Toong through a 5.6 kilometer highway will be included in the study as it is related to how the SRP will be integrated to different parts of the city.

“SRP is a major part of the city and so we are assisting the city in defining what will be done,” Vinterfav said.