Malaysia to help Cebu City government in its infrastructure projects

The Cebu City Hall. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia recently said that the Malaysian government plans to help the city in its infrastructure projects, among others.

Aside from the infrastructure, they also discussed building dams and mass transportation, during their visit here in Cebu City last week, Garcia said in a press conference.

“But I told them to study the possibility of a public-private partnership, wherein perhaps either the Malaysian government, through their investment arm, or they will bring in a private investor or proponent for a PPP, we are very much open to it. But it is good that they really showed and signified their interest to help out the City of Cebu,” Garcia said.

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He added that when the representatives from the Malaysian government come back to Cebu City, more concrete proposals were expected to be discussed.

“And then we can also give them maybe concrete problems that we are encountering, like bulk water supply,” Garcia said.

Moreover, Garcia believes that Malaysia could provide a lot of help to Cebu City, and when they come back, they would then identify what particular portion or sector of our Cebu City government or Cebu City that they can help out.

Yokohama City, Japan

Aside from Malaysia, last week, the City of Yokohama in Japan also visited Cebu City for its “City-to-City collaboration project” here to further strengthen their sister-city relationship.

According to the city’s PIO, the visitors were represented by consulting companies in Yokohama, whose specialization is infrastructure development and proper management.

“They brought an investor who is willing to help, especially in minimizing carbon footprint using technology. And at the same time, saving costs for the City of Cebu,” Garcia said.

Garcia added that the investor brought solar technology which would be the basis for a study in Cebu City.

“I told them to go to the Department of General Services and to get a list of all the buildings of the City of Cebu, including all the schools, all 80 more schools, all barangays, all fire stations, all police stations, wherein the City of Cebu paid for their electricity,” Garcia said.

He added that it will only be for the buildings, street lights are excluded.

Given that two foreign countries expressed similar support in terms of projects here in Cebu City, Garcia noted that “relationship with Yokohama is more advanced.”

“We have already had some projects that have finished, and some projects that have yet to start, and have projects that are already starting. The relationship with Malaysia is not yet there, considering that this was still the initial meeting we had,” Garcia said.

“However, Malaysia is very similarly situated to us. Their climate is about the same, their terrain is about the same, especially if you go to the state of Penang, which I’ve been, that’s also their historic city,” he added.

Among the programs that have been made together with Yokohama were the studies on drainage master plan, and a future study on tunnel boring machines in Cebu City.