3 reclamation dreams

Cordova resort and Talisay-Carcar ‘new metropolis’ have pros and cons

Proposed Cordova reclamation : Additional 20,000 hotel rooms

Three large-scale reclamation proposals in Mactan and Cebu mainland are pillar projects of lawyer Winston Garcia if he’s elected governor of Cebu next year.

While environment advocates have waved a red flag about  damage to the marine ecosystem and threats of worsened flooding,  Garcia said creating new land is key in the progress of Cebu as a global hub for transport and tourism.

Two proposals have long been studied by government agencies – a new container port in Consolacion town and a mixed-use tourism township in Cordova, Mactan.

Garcia is eying a third one, the biggest spread, a “new metropolis” covering 5,000 hectares of foreshore land from Talisay  City to Carcar City in  south Cebu.

READ: Scientist: Reclamation projects to worsen fisheries problems

As proposed, this would  include a 25-kilometer, eight-lane highway  and cost US$3 billion, which Garcia said can be easily raised from foreign investors “at no cost to the national government.”

“Cebu is about to implode. It is overcrowded and there is no room for growth. Traffic is symptomatic of worsening congestion and infrastructure cannot keep up with the times,” he said in a forum last Friday with Cebu Daily News Editorial Staff.

His presentation  “The Great Leap Forward” was a prelude to his campaign as head of the One Cebu party to challenge reelectionist Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III.

CORDOVA

Asked about complaints sure to be raised by urban planners about the impact of massive reclamation on Cebu’s land and marine resources, Garcia said he would not haul filling materials from the mountains because this would ruin the roads, where trucks would pass.

He said it’s better to use deep-sea dredging.

Garcia’s other proposal revives plans for a Cordova reclamation, this time one with 500 hectares for a high-end resort township and a 3-kilometer beachfront at a cost of US$2 billion.

READ: Toledo City reclamation no permit – PRA

This will increase Mactan’s hotel room capacity to 20,000, said Garcia.

Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy has long been pushing for a reclamation there amid protests from local fishermen who fear being evicted from foreshore areas where they gather shellfish. The site is also one of the largest seagrass beds in the region.

As early as 1977, the Cordova municipality had a contract with Manila-based Malayan Integrated Industries Corp.  to reclaim 1,600 hectares, later enlarged to 2,707 hectares, but legal problems stalled it.

MARINE HABITAT

This year, international marine watchdog Oceana has been opposing plans of the Toledo City government for an 11-hectare reclamation from the Boulevard to the Tañon Strait.

Cebu lawyer Gloria Ramos, Oceana Philippines vice president, is pressing for a moratorium on “ecologically destructive filling and dumping projects in vastly threatened marine habitats in Cebu.”

She wrote to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to protest and asked the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) in Manila for a list of other reclamation projects in Region 6 and 7.

Her request for disclosure stemmed from the observation that local governments in Cebu were on a “reclamation spree” without public consultation or the conduct of environment impact studies.

TEN PROJECTS

In its reply, dated July 16 , the PRA identified ten projects in Cebu.

Only one is completed, the 81-hectare Mandaue North Recalamation and Development with  a Phase 2 of 126 hectares of which the city government “is in the process of selecting its JV partner.”

The PRC said that contrary to  reports, Toledo “has no ongoing reclamation.”  Based on a visit by PRA technical representatives, the project in Toledo City “is still in the planning stage.”

Unlike Garcia’s “dream” for a 5,000-hectare reclamation from Talisay to Carcar in south Cebu, only Minglanilla town which is part of that stretch, appears on the PRA list.

The list for Cebu mentions a 100-hectare  “proposed” Minglanilla Reclamation and Industrial Park by the municipal government in coastal barangays of Tulay and Calajo-an.

The other proposed reclamations are in Mactan island, specifically Cordova, and in north Cebu’s Consolacion and Compostela towns.

In Cordova, Mactan is an application for a resort hotel by Carlos A. Gothong Lines Inc. (no area given), a 1,200-hectare international seaport by the Cordova municipal government, a private

CAGLI Reclamation project in barangay Alegria in Cordova by CAGLI/ Elizabeth Corro (no area given), and a 136-hectare Rafael Ramos Naval Base Reclamation by the Philippine Navy in Lapu-Lapu City.

In Consolacion,  a 7.5 hectare private reclamation is being eyed by Benjamin Pepito and Manuel Velayo.

In Compostela town, the municipality has proposed a reclamation as well but no area size was stated.

CONTAINER SHIP DOCKYARD

The silted Mactan Channel is a long-recognized problem limiting the capacity of the Cebu port.

With fewer foreign container ships docking there, Garcia said the Cebu International Port has to be moved north to Consolacion-Liloan towns, where 200 hectares can be reclaimed by private investors.

This new international port, he said, would cost US$1 billion and be 20 times bigger and three times deeper than the existing one in  Cebu city.

Garcia said this would make Cebu a major trans-shipment point and  gateway of Asia to Europe and the Americas.

For these reclamations, Garcia said he would seek authority from the PRA and authority as well to undertake Private-Public Partnership schemes so he can bid out projects to potential foreign investors.