Rama orders inventory of city-owned properties

AN inventory and review of ownership documents of Cebu city government-owned lands and other properties is being done, a move that stemmed from vendors’ act  of questioning the city’s claim over the old Warwicks barracks.

“We have to know what other properties do we have and where they are now,” said Mayor Michael Rama who ordered the conduct of the inventory.

Vendors earlier questioned the city’s act of taking over the burnt portion of  the old Warwicks barracks which it plans to develop into a commercial area.

Rama yesterday directed lawyer Jade Ponce, executive assistant and head of the Land Management Council, to do an inventory of all of the city’s properties, even places like the old Lorega Cemetery.

He wanted the inventory completed before his second term ends in 2016.

While records of the city’s properties are now being kept by the Government Services Office (GSO), these will have to undergo review and updating, said Rama.

The mayor also directed Ponce to oversee his plan to restore the three-meter easement along the Guadalupe River which ends in barangay Ermita. Clearing will be in preparation for the plan of building a third bridge that will connect Cordova town in Mactan island to mainland Cebu City.

Rama wants the area beautified so that a portion of the river which will be under the third bridge could be developed into a passageway, with lanes for jogging and biking.

He told Ponce to coordinate with Department for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) head Collin Rosell so they could plan the relocation of occupants living along the riverbank.