Kawit Island project perspective CDN file photo
NOW that he has secured the majority in the highly divisive city council, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced his plans to reintroduce the P18-billion Kawit Island Property project which was junked last May.
Osmeña made the announcement barely a day after Kasambagan Barangay Captain Franklyn Ong was elected as the new Federation President for the Association of Barangay Councils in Cebu City (ABC–Cebu City).
“We’re going to push for the immediate approval of the Kawit Island project and other resolutions that they (Barug Team Rama–PDP Laban) blocked,” said Osmeña.
He also revealed that the project’s proponent, Universal Hotels and Resorts Inc. (UHRI), wants to proceed with it.
“I don’t know (when I’ll resubmit it) but that’s now an administrative problem, not a political problem. As soon as possible, maybe,” Osmeña said.
Sought for comments, Barug Councilor Joel Garganera told Cebu Daily News in a text message that they will welcome the revival of the Kawit development project but, at the same time, will place it under scrutiny.
“We’re keeping an open mind as to have a more healthy discussion on this issue,” Garganera said.
Councilor Ong
Ong is set to sit in the council as one of its ex-officio members this Tuesday, August 6. As a result, BOPK reclaimed the majority in the council at 10-8.
In a special session last May 22, the council disapproved the resolution authored by Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr., authorizing Osmeña to sign a joint-venture agreement (JVA) with UHRI to develop the eight-hectare-Kawit property into an integrated resort facility.
At that time, BOPK and Barug still had an equal share of seats in the council. There was a tie on whether or not the JVA should be junked but it was broken after Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella the presiding officer, who is with the opposition bloc, voted against its approval.
Labella, who is allied with Barug, upheld Garganera’s comments that the sharing scheme between the city government and the Gokongwei-led UHRI is unfair for the former.
If the deal had pushed through, the city government would only receive 10 percent from the shares of development sales while the remaining 90 percent goes to UHRI.
Osmeña, upon learning of the council’s decision, claimed that the Barug-led city council only played politics.