South Road Properties (SRP) - Articles: 2006

Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts

Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts

South Coastal Road Now Open to Private Vehicles 24 hours (Dec 2006)

The Freeman 12/10/2006

Good news to all motorists!

Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday ordered the opening of the South Coastal Road, which traverses the South Road Properties, on a 24-hour basis. This is seen to benefit not only Talisay City residents but those from the southern towns who can use it as a shortcut to Cebu City.

This includes the Mambaling access road, as the lights there are already operational.

"Starting today (yesterday), the SRP will be open 24-hours. We are opening it but not to the pedestrian traffic," Osmeña clarified. Before, the SCR was only open from 6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Osmeña is confident that the Barangay Intelligence Network is capable of securing the road, this is aside from the patrol cars roving the 295-hectare SRP.

However, Osmeña clarified that motorists using the SCR are not allowed to stop and disembark anywhere along the stretch of the road in order to avoid accidents.

Last year, Osmeña issued security passes and clearances to private individuals so they can use the SCR after his fight for the ownership of the SRP which was contested by Cebu First District Rep. Eduardo Gullas, then mayor of Talisay City, who laid claim to 54 hectares of the project.

Incensed by the claim, Osmeña drove away vendors at Cebu City public markets to where known to be residents of Talisay City and closed down the SCR for Talisay City. - Garry B. Lao

Santo Niño Image Rises at Kawit Point (Nov 2006)

A Santo Niño image rises at Kawit Point at the South Road Properties SEZ.

Existing structures inside Kawit Point include a stone fort and a building (Sugbo) with Spanish architecture. A plaza is also envisioned to rise inside where a "Cannon", which was found under the sea nearby, will be displayed.

CEBU CITY MAYOR Tomas Osmeña and Lim Liu, president of Chong Hua hospital, inspect a four-foot-tall Sto. Niño image donated to the city. The bronze image was recently mounted beside the SUGBU administration building at the former Kawit island (now Kawit Point) of the South Road Properties. cdn

South Road Properties to Start Earning in 2007 (Nov 2006)

Cebu Daily News
Wednesday, 29 November 2006

The Cebu City government will start earning from the reclaimed South Road Properties (SRP) next year as some investors are expected to start constructing their facilities, according to Cebu Investment Promotion Center Joel Mari Yu.

"I would like to believe that in the first half of next year, we will see actual structures coming up," Yu said.

He said negotiations with some investors were in the final stages.

University of Cebu president Augusto Go planned to build a high-end trade high school on a 2-hectare lot across the school's campus, Yu said.

The city government and God had been talking for the leas of the area with an option to purchase, he added.

Another investor, Bigfoot wants to start constructing sound stages and a marina commercial complex. The 15 hectares for the project and another 2-hectares for the marina-commercial complex.

Yu said Bigfoot planned to purchase outright the two hectares and lease, with an option to buy, the 15 hectares.

Bigfoot also plans to build a 15-story condominium also on the two-hectare area, he said.

"The sound stage project is also their (Bigfoot's) immediate priority. They want to build four sound stages as fast as possible," Yu said.

The city government also plans to go into joint venture projects with two major real estate developers - Filinvest Land Inc. and Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Inc.

The city goverment and the Filinvest had been finalizing legal documents for a restaurant commercial complex that would be built in the vicinity of the Kawit area.

"We are also negotiating terms with Sta. Lucia. They asked for 70 hectares but we cut in half. We allow them to proceed with about 30 or 35 hectares," Yu said.

Sta. Lucia proposed a scheme of sharing with Cebu City, he added.

The city was also finalizing an agreement with the Cardiovascular Hospitals of America, which wanted to set up a medical facility at the SRP, he said.

There were pending negotiations for 12 hectares with Taiwanese businessman Paul Yu, who was awaiting the completion of the access road, Yu said. There were also three investors ready to come in upon the completion of the road, said Yu.

He said the bulk of the city's earnings from the SRP would come from its share of the utility sales, such as power and water.

"Land leases would account for not more than 35 percent (of the SRP revenues). More than 50 percent of the revenue will come from our shares of power sales and the balance from our share of the water sales and other utility sales," Yu said.

City Council Approves Construction of Signage (Nov 2006)

The Freeman 11/23/2006
The City Council yesterday approved a budget of at least P8.274 million for the construction of the "Welcome Hill" signage at the Cebu South Road Properties.

This after the Bids and Awards Committee of the city government awarded the signage's construction to the lowest bidder, the Ana Construction.
Under the terms and conditions, the contractor will also provide facilities inside the SRP for disabled persons such as ramps.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña earlier said the 296-hectare SRP would have recreational parks and retirement villages.

But the city government, however, has yet to close a deal with those interested in putting up retirement facilities at the SRP. - Garry B. Lao

Firm Pans to Build Restaurants at SRP Seawall (Nov 2006)

By Doris C. Bongcac
Cebu Daily News
Last updated 01:56pm (Mla time) 11/16/2006

RESTAURANTS and entertainment joints will soon be a fixture at the Cebu City's South Road Properties if an investment company will push through with its planned P200-million infrastructure project.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday said he met with representatives of Filinvest Land Inc. in Manila to finalize the layout of the company's planned construction of 18 food and liquor stalls in a portion of the seawall of the SRP.

“Filinvest is planning to construct three structures. That will be considered a fun thing, something that will show that the SRP is a highly desirable area. The in place in Cebu,” he said.

The mayor has long envisioned the operation of restaurants and entertainment joints at the SRP.
He said in an earlier interview that Cebu's lack of an entertainment strip is one of the downside in its marketing campaign to attract tourists.

Osmeña said entertainment joints located away from each other is not very attractive to partygoers.

Filinvest is designing seaside stalls that will be leased to restaurant and restobar operators who wanted to open businesses at the SRP, Osmeña yesterday told Cebu Daily News.

Various entrepreneurs, Osmeña said, have already inquired of stall rentals.

Osmeña, however, said that before construction will begin, he wanted to clarify with Filinvest how the city government will be compensated from their construction project.

“There are some legal questions that we have to consider,” he said.

The city government, he said, may lease to Filinvest the portion of the SRP that they need for the construction project. An option is for the investment company and the city government to agree on a sharing scheme.

Under the sharing scheme, a certain percentage of the stall rentals that Filinvest will collect will go to the city's coffers, Osmeña said.

“If the operation of the stalls will be successful, this will be a source of income for the city government. I'm willing to put the city to risk in doing business (with Filinvest),” the mayor said.

Osmeña to Ink Pact with CIPC on SRP Promotion (Nov 2006)

The Freeman 11/12/2006

The City Council has authorized Mayor Tomas Osmeña to enter into a memorandum of agreement with Cebu Investment Promotions Center (CIPC) to promote the 295-hectare South Road Properties as investment destination for both local and international investors.

In her proposed resolution, Majority Floor Leader Jocelyn Pesquera said the city government needs to tap the CIPC to handle the promotion and marketing of SRP. She said that in return, the city would pay CIPC P4,586,916.
The CIPC is a foundation whose primary purpose is to promote investment in the region.

The SRP, which is registered with Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) as a special economic zone, is now in its final stages of completion. Designed for mixed land use, it can easily accommodate manufacturing, commercial, tourism and information technology service enterprises.

Unlike the North Reclamation Project and the Mandaue City Reclamation Project, the SRP is no longer entirely devoted to manufacturing and export processing.

Since CIPC has been marketing the SRP as a prime mixed land use development project, it will be sub-zoned to accommodate investments in light manufacturing, tourism, information technology and other service enterprises.

In August 1995, the city government availed of the official development assistance loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation worth 12.3 billion yen to finance the SRP.

The SRP was then declared a special economic zone through Presidential Proclamation No. 763 issued on January 20, 2005, four years after the completion of the reclamation works in 2000. - Garry B. Lao/LPM

Mayor Eyes Transport System for Call Center Companies (OCT 2006)

By Doris C. Bongcac
Cebu Daily News
Last updated 02:51pm (Mla time) 10/27/2006

CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña plans to develop a transportation system for call center firms that will relocate at the South Road Properties (SRP).

Osmeña wants the system to be tested first on a call center firm in barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.
If successful, the system would be be adopted by other call centers that would wish to relocate to the SRP, he said.

“Many call centers are interested in coming to the SRP but we want to put up a transportation system first,” he said.

Because he would not allow the entry of public utility vehicles into the SRP, Osmeña said, the city government has to design a transportation system for those who would be working in the area.

“We are adjusting to their needs, we are not asking them to adjust to us,” the mayor said.

To test his plan on the operation a government-run transportation system, Osmeña said, he would assign a Kaoshiung bus to pick up employees of Convergys in barangay Guadalupe and bring them to and from their workplaces, especially late at night.

Osmeña said the company would be made to pay for the use of the city-owned bus and the services of a detailed driver.

The mayor said he wanted to detail a member of the Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN), like those deployed to help secure government offices, as bus driver.

The transportation system, he said, would later be imitated for call centers and other industries that would soon be established at the SRP, he said.

The SRP, he said, is designed as an economic zone that would cater mostly to export producing industries that would bring dollars to Cebu City.

Call centers, Osmeña said, are also exporting services to foreign countries and could be accommodated at the SRP.

Employees from these call centers are also prospective clients for at least 18 restaurants that he would wish to occupy an area near the seawall and a man-made white sand beach at the SRP.

Osmeña said he also plans to invite an educational institution that would offer courses for a masters degree to call center employees “for their human resource development”.

“Our problem here is that many of the call centers are unable to recruit college students because they are perceived as a dead-end job”.

Even employees of the mayor's management team, who are only paid P10,000monthly have refused to work in call centers because of their quest for a more challenging job, Osmeña said.

The presence of an educational institution at the SRP is expected to help correct misconceptions on call center jobs.

More Projects at SRP Eyed for Inmates (OCT 2006)

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By Doris C. Bongcac, Jhunnex Napallacan, Chris Ligan
Cebu Daily News
Last updated 10:52am (Mla time) 10/25/2006

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has thought of another work opportunity for inmates at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC).

Osmeña said he would also want selected inmates to help in the establishment of a man-made white sand beach at the seawall of the South Road Properties (SRP)...

A total of 30 inmates from the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) have been selected for work in the South Road Properties (SRP), according to Chief Inspector Gil Inopia, BBRC deputy warden.

The selected inmates await the go-signal from Mayor Osmeña, Inopia said.

Inopia said it was their administrative division that recommended the inmates for the SRP work.

The recommended list, however, needs to be approved by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Central Visayas, Inopia said.

In addition to the one million sand bags to be manufactured by the prisoners, Osmeña wants an area of 1.4 kilometers of the seawall filled with finely crashed rocks to convert it into a shoreline.

Dakay Construction is now working on a small portion of the seawall measuring about 50 meters wide, where they are testing the viability of the mayor's project. The test area would also determine the volume of crushed stone needed for the white sand beach.

Osmeña earlier said he wanted to hire BBRC inmates due for release to manufacture sand bags needed to open interior roads at the SRP and to paint a portion of the seawall and the sidewalk.

He said one million sand bags need to be produced within the next six months.

The mayor thought of using sand bags as foundation for interior roads because of their durability. The sand bags would later be covered by asphalt.

Councilors Edgardo Labella and Hilario Davide III are supportive of the mayor's plan to employ inmates.

Labella, however, wanted to be clarified on the legal procedures in acquiring the services of the prisoners.

“Maayo ang katuyo-an sa mayor to make them productive but we need the permission of the court. Kinahanglan ug pagtoon on the filing of necessary motions in court,” he said.

BBRC jail warden Efren Nemeño, for his part, said the plan to tap the BBRC prisoners for manual labor at the SRP was already “approved in principle” by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Nemeño said BJMP chief Superintendent Antonio Cruz had already approved the plan during their conversation last week after the city government sent him the letter about Mayor Tomas Osmeña's plan.

Nemeño said he personally talked to Cruz last week during the shooting competition of BJMP officers.

Cruz seemed to be happy with the idea because this would help in rehabilitating the prisoners, Nemeño said.

To ensure the plan has no legal impediment, they have referred it to the legal department of the BJMP.

Nemeño said Cruz may issue a memorandum this week for the approval of the plan after the findings of their legal department. If the legal department recommends that they would need a court order, they would get one, he said.

Nemeño said he personally believed the court only needed to be informed.

Nemeño said once the court had convicted someone, the jurisdiction of the prisoners would now go to the jail warden.

Out of respect to the court, however, Nemeño said BBRC was informing the court about the idea.

IBP Cebu City President Alex Tolentino, who is apprehensive about the plan, did not object to it.

“First, this is very risky. Second, they have to ask permission from the court”, Tolentino said.

Tolentino said it was difficult to say if it was legal or not because there was no jurisprudence tackling the idea.

Inopia said the 30 inmates selected faced minor cases and have three to six months’ stay in the city jail left.

“Pagsiguro nga di mopuga ang patrabahoon sa SRP, gipili namo ang gagmay og kaso ug hapit na molaya,” Inopia said.

Police and court officials are still studying the proposal to hire inmates for manual labor in the SRP, paying detainees P100 a day and offering free meals.

The scheme, which would save costs for the city government, is mainly intended to rehabilitate detainees of the overcrowded Cebu City jail.

If implemented, the plan would be the first program of its kind in the country.

Cebu Seeks Investors in 240-hectare South Road Properties (Sept 2006)

Cebu City (27 September) -- Sites for recreational park and retirement villages could be an ideal project in the 240-hectare South Road Properties (SRP), said Cebu City planning and development officer (CPDO) Nigel Paul Villarete....
But the city government, however, has not been able to close a deal yet with an investor who may be interested to buy or lease a portion of the SRP to put up retirement facilities, and the city also lacks a feasibility study on the viability of converting Pond A into a marine park, Villarete said.

Mayor Osmeña said he did not favor the established of a marina park at the SRP because this venture offered few jobs and added that he has already turned down a business proposal for a marina park. Instead he wants the SRP to cater to industries that would provide more jobs for Cebuanos.

Villarete said he believes a marina park in Pond A was feasible but that it would need the approval of Mayor Tomas Osmeña. “It is always feasible but whether or not it is desirable or it is the right option is another consideration. Our main consideration is whether or not it is investment-driven,” Villarete said.

Five Cebu City officials who recently traveled to the United Sates have asked the CPDO to study the feasibility of having retirement villages in the city.

In a travel report submitted to the council, the group led by Vice Mayor Michael Rama also wanted a study made the possibility of putting up a marina park in Pond A similar to one they saw in Nevada, USA.

The report said that the Nevada Marina Park was a favorite destination because it offered recreational fishing, man-made beaches and picnic areas.

Villarete, who has not seen a copy of the travel report yet, said he was willing to study the proposal and added that Mayor Osmeña sent out invitations to Japanese businessmen who may be interested to put up retirement villages at the SRP during a trip to Japan two years ago.

“The city has long planned to have a retirement village but we need investors to do that. The city can’t compete with the private sector and initiate that,” Villarete said.

The mayor, he said, is especially interested in having a Japanese and Korean retirement village at the SRP since they dominate tourists arrival in the country now.

“I’ve also had many inquiries on the matter but I don’t know if there have been negotiations. That is already the task of the Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC),” Villarete said.

He said there was a need to determine if converting Pond A into a Marina Park would help local tourism and blend with the use of neighboring properties.

The environmental impact if operating a Marina Park also has to be considered, he said.

The 2-meter to 2.5-meter deep Pond A May also be used for fish propagation, aqua culture, water sports, a runway for water planes and other tourism related uses. (PIA/gfg)

Osmeña: Accelerating the completion of SRP (Sept 2006)

By Antonio V. Osmeña
Estatements

IN practice, the terms “subdividing” and “developing” are used interchangeably. Technically, however, the application of these terms differs significantly...
There are owners, operators and speculators, for instance, who are interested only in the less intricate business functions of acquiring tracts of land at wholesale and selling them already subdivided or at retail. Will the South Road Properties (SRP) be sold like this? Or will it be offered to those who are interested in going beyond the initial stage of urbanization, and assume business functions that involve the entire development of the area.

Literally interpreted, subdividing means the “breaking-up” of one or more large tracts of land into smaller plots, subject to community regulations, if any, governing the use of property.

Where subdividing is the owner’s intent, he need not incur any additional expense, other than those related to the purchase and survey of the land, to the placement of markers or stakes at intended plot boundaries and to submit a surveyor’s “plat” of the proposed subdivision for city or municipal officials’ approval.

The “plat,” as a rule, contains information concerning (1) the subdivision name; (2) block, lot, and street designations and dimensions; and (3) proposed easements, rights-of-way and land dedicated to public use. It should be noted that the process of subdividing does not require any physical change in the land per se.

The “paper” subdivision is usually bought in its entirety for urban o suburban development as originally proposed, or it may be held for prospective higher and better uses. In the latter case, the tract of land may be “re-platted” at any time such a change appears financially advantageous to the owner. The prime motive, of course, in any case, is to reap a financial reward from the undertaking.

The owner of the SRP are the taxpayers of the City of Cebu who are now bound to pay the loan used to construct the project.

Thus, for the owner of SRP to pay its loan obligation, developing the reclaimed land is a must.

Whenever land improvements are carried out in accordance with subdivision plans and expenditures are being made to provide essential site facilites, field actions are appropriately classified as land developing.

The SRP needs additional funding for the development of site facilities from the present “raw” land.

Developing the SRP, to be socially, politically and economically successful, Mayor Tomas Osmeña should now create the Cebu City SRP Authority, where only those who are well-informed in real estate business can be appointed.

Generally, these are people with substantial experience in the real estate profession or those who are guided by real estate analysts, civil engineers or consultants who have specialized in the highly complex field of land utilization.

The SRP would probably need an additional P2 to P3 billion to make the lots marketable. The development cost would require the owner to have a business-like organization, such as an authority.

Critics believe that the people who Mayor Tom had entrusted to plan and execute the completion of the SRP have not been effective.

SRP now needs the combined skills of urban planners, architects, civil engineers, real estate consultants and financiers, all cooperating to support and recommend appropriate strategies to Mayor Tom.

The people of Cebu are wary of political maneuvers to derail the project as what had happened to the north reclamation project of Cebu City.

Build marina park in vacant SRP (Sept 2006)

Cebu Daily News
Last updated 10:38am (Mla time) 09/13/2006

The five Cebu City councilors who went to the United States for almost a month recommended that the unfilled portion of the South Road Properties (SRP) be converted into a marina park....
The recommendation was included in the travel report of Vice Mayor Michael Rama and Councilors Jocelyn Pesquera, Procopio Fernandez, Sylvan Jakosalem and Rodrigo Abellanosa, who traveled around the US in July and August.

The trip cost some P680,000.

The group attended the Sister Cities International 50th Anniversary Conference in Washington D.C., dance sport competitions in San Francisco and the Pista sa Nayon in Seattle.

Before they returned to the country on August 15, Rama and Councilors Pesquera and Fernandez dropped by the Sparks Marina Park in Nevada.

In their report, they said that the 50-hectare unreclaimed Pond A at the SRP can be patterned after the park in Nevada which is a man-made lake filled by 1 billion gallons of water. It has depths varying from 60 feet to 120 feet.

Pond A, which is just across the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill, is filled with murky water. It has the Mambaling River on its side.

The councilors said that Pond A can be like Nevada Marina Park and could host “fishing, man-made beaches, a sand volleyball court, numerous picnic tables, gazebos, a light trail system and an extensive landscape.”

The councilors also asked the City Planning and Development Officer (CPDO) to look into the possibility of putting up a senior citizen retirement village at the SRP.

“The City of Cebu should come up with a good senior (citizen) housing program so as to encourage expatriate(s) to live in the city,” the councilors' report read.

Citing a report by the US National Investment for Senior Living and the Long Term Industries, the demand for senior citizens housing is projected to increase from only 1.78 million units in 1996 to 3.7 million in 2030. /Reporter Doris C. Bongcac

Osmeña to Reopen Coastal Road in December (Sept 2006)

By Doris C. Bongcac
Cebu Daily News
Last updated 11:10am (Mla time) 09/05/2006

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña will fully open the Cebu South Coastal Road to traffic during the holiday season to make the South Road Properties (SRP), formerly South Reclamation Project, more appealing to investors...

“We have to re-shift our strategy to create a situation by Christmas that a lot of people will go to the SRP. This will address one of the most important issues that buyers also ask about. Is it accessible? Is it desirable?,” he told reporters during a news conference on Monday.

The mayor said the move was to assure prospective investors that the SRP was accessible in order to disprove a report published in Cebu Daily News (CDN) that the lack of interior roads has been discouraging investors.

Osmeña was reacting to the statement of Joel Mari Yu, executive director of the Cebu Investment Promotions Center tasked to sell the SRP, who presented to CDN the real situation of the property that tied the city to a multi-billion peso loan up to 2025.

Yu had told CDN that most investors only wanted to lease the property on SRP but not buy lots. They also wanted to see interior roads branching out to the South Coastal Road as well as to fill up a crater of about eight hectares wide near the coastal road, which is already about one meter below sea level.

According to Yu, the city government had limited financial resources to build the roads and to fill up the gaping hole.

But Osmeña called the CDN report a “demolition job,” which made it harder for him to sell the SRP.

The mayor said he would open SRP by December but subject to some regulations to avoid vandals, which was the reason why he had closed down the Cebu South Coastal Road that leads to the 240-hectare reclaimed property.

But Osmeña was forced to reopen the coastal road up to 7 p.m. after he was ordered to do so by the court. Still, he required motorists to use a special SRP pass when using the access road in Barangay Mambaling.

Before he will open the road in December, Osmeña promised that facilities like water and power would be put in place.

While electric posts have been put up, these were not connected to the power distributor Visayan Electric Company. Water drawn in the vicinity of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) building on Kawit Island was not potable, he said.

Osmeña said he was negotiating with Philinvest to open a restaurant on Kawit Island, as he wanted to bring in economic activity to the SRP to entice investors. The city government has been putting up a man-made white sand beach in a portion of Pond F near Kawit.

Still, he said he wanted to remain selective in the type of industries that would be put up on his centerpiece project. Top priority would be companies that would generate more employment.

He pointed that a businessman wanted to open a water park at the SRP, but he turned it down. He was not also inclined to open a mall in the SRP that would compete with the existing malls.

Osmeña said he would prefer to accommodate manufacturing companies like those found at the Mactan Export Processing Zone. Another acceptable investment is a hospital that will cater to Balikbayans, he said.

The city may also decide to sell a portion of the reclaimed lot for its loan re-payment in the absence of a funding source. “We can sell four to five hectares at P5,000 per square meter on a fire sale. That will take care of a year's loan amortization,” he said.

Osmeña said the city could sell properties located along the main road like those properties along the Mambaling Access Road and the vicinity of Pond F. Interior properties may be up for lease, he said.

Almost a quarter of the city's annual budget goes to repaying the loan of about 12.3 billion yen or about P6.3 billion from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation.

Cebu City Administrator Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez, for his part, said the main reason that hindered the sale of SRP lots to foreign investors was the provision in the constitution that bans foreigners from completely owning property in the country.

Fernandez said foreigners needed local partners because the constitution only allows them to own 40 percent of a property in the country. Foreign investors who wanted to buy lots in the SRP were still looking for local partners, he added. /with report from Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan

City Hall Eyeing New Strategy for SRP (Sept 2006)

The Freeman 09/05/2006

The city government will embark on a new strategy to make sure that the multi-billion South Road Properties will not remain idle in the near future...

This developed as Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday contended that the newspaper story, which portrayed the SRP as being difficult to sell, has affected the marketability of the project, thus, a new marketing strategy will have to be in place.

"We have to offset the propaganda that the SRP is lousy... it's hard for me because the SRP is belittled by a smear in the headlines," an irked Osmeña told reporters.

What the mayor has in mind is to make sure that the SRP, in a controlled basis, can be opened to the public for scrutiny before December, which means that the city will do its best to finish the 1.4 kilometer white sand beach walk near the Kawit Island. The city also intends to convert the 90-hectare Pond A into a sports park.

After the basic amenities such as electricity and water are installed, the marketability of the SRP would allow employment of 150 people per shift for every hectare in the site, Osmeña said.

Sustainability of income is also important, as the city government has until 2025 to pay the over P6 billion loan from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation for the construction of the project. To address this, Osmeña said he is willing to "dive on the price" to sell the land within the property.

The city government may sell the SRP lot for as low as P5,000 per square meter, but the purchase will be limited to only five hectares per buyer. The earning, Osmeña said, may be enough to sustain the city's payment for the loan.

Along with the strategy, he said, is to see to it that the city and the project will not go into bankruptcy, and ensure that the SRP will help the city's economy just as how it was envisioned many years ago.

Osmeña admitted that it may be difficult to sell the inner portions of the SRP due to lack of roads, but what the city wanted is to sell the properties that are located along the main road.

Two months ago, Osmeña announced that a group of prospective Japanese investors, whom he described as "creative entrepreneurs," expressed intention to visit Cebu to take a look at the SRP and observe the city's economic condition.

The group is reportedly interested in putting up a hospital or a retirement or handicap home at the SRP. Osmeña said these investors owned 3,000 beds or equivalent to 20 medical facilities in Japan.

A member of the group has reportedly visited Cebu a month ago and had expressed interest in brining his business in the city.

In March, the city paid its P250 million amortization of the SRP and subsequently secured the official title for the project. - Joeberth M. Ocao/LPM

South Reclamation Properties Hard to Sell (Sept. 2006)

Lack of interior roads discourages investors

By Wilfredo Rodolfo III
Cebu Daily News
Last updated 07:48am (Mla time) 09/04/2006

Joel Mari Yu was walking around his office while talking over his mobile phone to an investor - a representative of a Middle Eastern company interested in getting 20 hectares from the South Reclamation Properties (SRP) and develop it into an amusement park...

"They only want to lease? The mayor might have some hesitations. But if they're going to buy, I could make it a lot easier for them," said the executive director of the Cebu Investments Promotions Center (CIPC).

When he put down the phone, Yu explained to Cebu Daily News (CDN) the situation at the 240-hectare SRP, which has tied down the city to a multi-billion debt up to 2025.

Most investors only want to lease the properties on the SRP, which means less money for the city compared to directly selling the lots. Investors also want interior roads branching out to the South Coastal Road.

Yu, who has been tasked to sell SRP abroad, said many potential investors also want the city to fill up the crater of about eight hectares wide near the coastal road, which is already about one meter below sea level.

But the problem is that the city government has limited financial resources to build the roads and to fill up the gaping hole.

"The city needs the cash now," Yu said.

Five years after the SRP was completed in 2001, not a single development has been put up by an investor.

So far, only two buildings have been erected at the reclamation project - an unoccupied Association of Barangay Councils building and an administration building.

It also has a fort-like wall and a stage - huge selling points when the national government promised to bring the main office of the Department of Tourism to the SRP, which, up to now, has yet to materialize.

In the meantime, almost a quarter of the city's annual budget goes to repayment of the loan of about 12.3 billion yen (about P6.3 billion) from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC).

In 2006 and 2007, the city is expected to shell out close to P1 billion in loan amortizations. The Land Bank of the Philippines had estimated earlier that the city would shell out P10 billion more in the next 15 years until the loan was fully paid.

But Yu explained that the SRP is not short of interested locators - from development companies wanting 100 hectares to commercial establishments asking for a few hundred square meters.

"The problem is how to put them all together," he said.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña explained that there are plans to build the interior roads that will not further burden the city government financially.

"We have no plans of just building roads. We will build it according to specific needs of the investors," he said.

The mayor's plan is to use sandbags as the main carriageway of the four-lane roads.

Osmeña explained that the two outer lanes would be made up of sandbags, while the two inner lanes would have sandbags with asphalt poured over them.

"We will test this for one year and see what will happen," he said.

While the city prefers property buyers, the mayor said he is not shutting his doors on lessors, especially those that will bring in more employment.

"We will only lease to companies that would be employing many people," he told CDN.

If leased, each square meter at the SRP will be priced at P45 per year. This means that for every hectare, about P450,000 will go to the city's coffers every year.

But if a piece of SRP property is sold at Mayor Osmeña's "fire sale" price of P10,000 per square meter, a hectare of land will easily snatch up P100 million. A fire sale is defined as a sale of assets at reduced prices in order to raise money quickly.

If the city can sell the entire 240 hectares, it will easily bring in P24 billion.

In order to consolidate the buyers and the lessors, Yu keeps track of all the feelers, plots their land size requirements and fits them into the rectangular SRP map like a jigsaw puzzle.

"When they are all consolidated maybe we can lease the land and raise the cash to build the roads," Yu said.

Conceived as early as the 1970s, the SRP was envisioned to draw in billions of investments and create 100,000 jobs for Cebuanos. On its beachfronts, condominiums and hotels were supposed to rise.

But 11 years after the first truck dropped dirt into the sea off the coast of Barangay Mambaling, the promise has yet to be fulfilled.

Still, Osmeña, who fought tooth and nail to secure the foreign loan to build the project, remains very optimistic about the project.

With the sandbag roads in place, he said the first construction equipment from a locator might come in by first quarter of 2007, Osmeña said.

American Group Plans to Build State-of-the Art Hospital at SRP (Aug 2006)

The Freeman 08/28/2006

Negotiations are ongoing between the City of Cebu and an American firm for the establishment of a P700 million state-of-the-art hospital at the South Reclamation Properties.
Dr. Philip Chua, the Chairman of Cardiovascular Surgery at Cebu Doctor's University Hospital told The Freeman that the Cardiovascular Hospitals of America (CHA) based in Wichita, Kansas plans to build the American Medical Center in Cebu City, its first branch in Asia, by next year.

Chua, a Filipino-American cardio-surgeon from Indiana and Las Vegas, is also the Vice President of CHA for Far East Operations.

Chua said the Philippines was primarily chosen as the pilot area as it has an edge over other Asian countries because of its natural resources as the availability of manpower.

"Particularly the knowledge and grasp of the English language, the Philippines can do it better than those Asian countries whose medical tourism is now rapidly evolving a multi-billion dollar industry, like Malaysia, Thailand and India," Chua said.

The planned American Medical Center-Cebu will apply for accreditation with the Joint Commission International, US Blue Cross/Blue Shield and US Medicare.

When it comes to fruition, Chua said that with the enabling environment and assistance provided by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and the national government, this industry would bring hundreds of thousand new jobs and billions of pesos to boost the sagging economy of the country.

Chua said that Filipinos abroad are most eager to visit the Philippines often or even to retire but due to lack of health and hospitalization insurance coverage, they are reluctant to do so.

The AMC-Cebu would change all this and will allow Filipinos overseas fulfill their dream of retiring in their native land.

Investors of this medical tourism center, besides the CHA in Kansas, are all physicians and businessmen in Cebu, Manila and other major cities south of Manila.

It will be built based on American standards and managed as a world class center with licensed surgeons in the United States among the many surgical specialists on its staff.

Chua said it is going to be a win-win situation for the American investors, Filipino physicians, Cebu and the Filipino people as a whole.

The doctor also assured that although the hospital will cater mainly to balikabayans and patients from other countries, Filipinos can also seek treatment and medical care in the facility.

The CHA owns four hospitals in the United States. -

Sto. Niño Image Soon to Rise at SRP (August 2006)

The Freeman 08/13/2006

A life-size image Sr. Santo. Niño will soon rise on Kawit Island after the City Council granted businessman Lim Liu's request to create a cultural, historical and religious landmark in the area, which is now part of the South Road Properties (SRP).

Councilor Joey Daluz III, who authored the resolution approving the landmark's construction, said the city government will not spend a single centavo for the construction of the image.

"Mr. Lim Liu, a well known businessman, good Samaritan and civic leader will put up a life-size image of the Sr. Santo Niño not only to pay homage to the patron and divine protector of Cebuano people, but more importantly, to evoke the cultural, historical and religious heritage or history of Cebu City," Daluz said.

Under a proposed plan, the Kawit Island will be utilized as a recreational area inside the SRP.

In Pre-Hispanic times, Cebu was known as "Sugbu" or "Zubu," which was already a port town visited by traders from China, Thailand, the East Indies and the Arabian kingdoms.

When Ferdinand Magellan landed in Cebu on April 7, 1521, its ruler King Humabon gladly welcomed him. Humabon and his queen Juana were later converted to Christianity and at least 400 other subjects followed suit.

Magellan planted a cross and gave Juana a statue of the Santo Niño to commemorate the event. - Garry B. Lao

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.

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.

Villarete Asks Council to Prohibit Public Use of all Parts of SRP (June 2006)

The Freeman 06/28/2006

South Reclamation Project manager Nigel Paul Villarete is asking the city council to declare the 296-hectare South Reclamation Project as reserve for current and future use by the city government and prohibits any kind of public use.

In his letter addressed to the city council, Villarete said that the channel separating the SRP from the mainland should remain open and clear, free from obstruction and any impeding structures or improvements.

Villarete said that all parts should be immediately and readily accessible by the city government for clean-up, repairs and maintenance purposes.

"Inasmuch as the channel surrounds and direct abuts the SRP, it is deemed imperative that the city government has direct access and control in case the city needs to establish other management, control, access, or maintenance structures and or improvements anytime in the future," Villarete said.

It is noted, according to Villarete that in Presidential Proclamation No. 843, which declared the SRP as alienable and disposable, and which transferred ownership to the city government, the approved Survey Plan clearly indicated the necessary Salvage Zone as required by law.

The Salvage Zone is intended by law to allow sound urban environmental management of coastal areas and protect these areas from encroachment, Villarete said.

Villarete added that a piece of legislation to that effect, foreshore lease applications, miscellaneous sales applications, fishpond permits, and any other kind of public land uses and applications be prohibited in the area and no applications be approved nor recommended for approval by higher authorities, is also necessary.

The city government of Cebu, through an Official Development Assistance of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation embarked into a major reclamation project in 1995, called the South Reclamation Project, generally located offshore of the south district of the city.

The reclamation works was completed in 2000, the initial horizontal infrastructure development and utilities were implemented, and the SRP was declared as a Special Economic Zone through Presidential Proclamation No. 763, issued on January 20, 2005. - Garry B. Lao

Work on Hospital for Tourists Starts in 1st Part of ’07

Barring any hitches in negotiations, construction of the first medical center in Asia catering to medical tourists will begin in the first quarter of 2007.

The facility, to be tentatively called the American Specialty Hospital of Cebu, will rise on a two-hectare lot at the Cebu South Reclamation Project (SRP).
The Cardiovascular Hospitals of America (CHA), which will operate the hospital and owns four similar facilities in the United States, will lease the property for 25 years.

Dr. Philip Chua, CHA vice president for Far East operations, said the facility will cost about P1 billion.

Chua was among the speakers in yesterday’s Health and Wellness Forum at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino as part of InTourPreneur 2006, one of the events of the Cebu Business Month.

Services

Aside from its state-of-the-art equipment, the hospital will be accredited by the Joint Commission International and will honor international health insurance providers.

Chua said the hospital will be a “small” one – at least 30 beds – to ensure a fast turnover of patients.

That way, the patients can still enjoy the other components of the package they have availed themselves of as medical tourists, Chua added.

The hospital will also offer services popular among medical tourists, specifically open heart, cosmetic, eye and dental surgeries.

While they will be hiring locals for manpower, Chua said their medical team will be composed of professionals who are trained and licensed in the United States.

He also assured that while they will cater mostly to tourists who can afford the services, they will accept charity cases in coordination with various government and nongovernment agencies.

Negotiations

Chua told Sun.Star Cebu that they are still negotiating with both the national and local governments for various concessions, which will include, among others, the site where the hospital will rise and tax exemptions for being a pioneer in the medical tourism industry.

Chua, who is also chairman of cardiovascular surgery of the Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital, however said they have at least three concerns that need to be addressed before going full blast in the construction.

These include return of investment, peace and order, and corruption in politics. (RCT)

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