Minglanilla town mayor welcomes project approval
A proposed 100-hectare reclamation project in Minglanilla town, south Cebu was approved by the Cebu Provincial Reclamation Authority (CPRA) earlier this week.
The plan calls for an industrial park that can host 45 light industrial plants of local and foreign locators in the coast of barangays Calajo-an and Tulay.
Minglanilla Mayor Elanito Peña said this has long been a dream of local officials since he was a municipal councilor in 1993 and could generate jobs and increase the town’s income “threefold.”
While the project needs the approval of various agencies, including a green light from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to check on the impact on the ecology and coastal communities, Peña said he hopes construction can start this year.
As proposed, the Minglanilla – Ming Mori Reclamation and Industrial Park Development Project will be undertaken as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with Ming-Mori Development Corp. represented by Jose Soberano III its chairman and president.
Minglanilla will not spend for the project. It will be fully funded by the private developer, which is a subsidiary of Cebu Landmasters Development Corp.
A total of 49 percent of the reclaimed land will be owned by the private developer while 51 percent will be shared among the PRA, municipal government and the Province of Cebu.
The project will have 51 hectares for an industrial zone. Other areas will be set aside for commercial, institutional, and residential use, and mixed-used zones.
The parties signed an agreement last June 25.
“This project has been discussed for a long time, ever since I sat down in 1993. I am just so happy because the project will spur development in our town,” the mayor told Cebu Daily News yesterday.
Minglanilla is a first-class municipality with an annual revenue of P168 million in 2014 and a population of about 113,000 as of the 2010 census.
The CPRA, headed by Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III, met with Mayor Peña and other town officials at the Capitol last July 8.
The CPRA will next endorse the proposal to the Cebu Provincial Board, which, in turn, will endorse it to the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) in Manila.
Present during the meeting on Wednesday were Governor Davide, PB Members Christopher Baricuatro and Joven Mondigo Jr., several department heads, and the private developers.
No project costs were revealed at this stage.
A report by the Provincial Information Office said the deal follows the format of the joint venture agreement between Cordova and SM Prime Holdings Inc. for their own proposed 1,500-hectare reclamation project, which was approved by CPRA in June.
In 2013, during the term of Minglanilla Mayor Eduardo Selma, the municipal government entered into a PPP agreement with Ming-Mori Development Corp. for the 100-hectare reclamation project.
The Capitol brief said Minglanilla already identified the affected stakeholders, particularly fisherfolk two years ago.
With just over 200 fishermen, the town is not known for heavy fishing.
It also does not have a declared marine sanctuary, it said.
The project will provide alternative livelihood to the townspeople, not only the fisherfolk, and especially the younger generation.
Residents will have an option to either work in factories or to continue fishing.
The rise of an industrial park in the area is also expected to spur growth in population and traffic congestion.
Anticipating this, Minglanilla officials are proposing to open the route of the old Philippine National Railway.
The 30-meter wide railway slices through the public market area in the lower part of Minglanilla and connects to the South Road Properties in Cebu City.
The proposal to open the old railway was endorsed by the Provincial Development Council (PDC) to the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) in February this year.
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