City Hall official worried about status of drainage master plan

A City Hall official said he was worried that  three big developers may have lost interest in making a drainage master plan for the 300-hectare South Road Properties (SRP).

Cebu City Engr. Jose Marie Poblete said no meetings have been called for four Mondays by the task force formed by Mayor Michael Rama to address flooding in the SRP.

Poblete said he learned from one representative that developers expect the city government to conduct the study after the city recently received P8.3 billion as downpayment from the sale of SRP lots

Sought for comment, Filinvest Land Inc. vice president Allan Alfon, who heads the task force, denied that developers will back out from undertaking the study.

He wasn’t able to elaborate in the e brief phone conversation.

The study was initially pegged to cost P2 million.

The task force headed by Alfon  includes representatives of  Filinvest, SM Prime Holdings Inc. and Ayala Land Inc.  They initially agreed to meet every Monday for coordination.

Reached for comment, SM Supermalls Visayas operations manager Sherry Tuvilla last night advised to refer to the letter of Filinvest to the mayor.   (See related story).

Ayala-led Cebu Holdings Inc. corporate  communication manager Jeanette Japson said she was not privy to details of the project and referred to Alfon as head of the task force.

“There have been no meetings for the past weeks. It may be an indication that their interest has cooled off. However, we haven’t received a formal letter from them saying they would  back out,” Poblete said.

“(If they back out) we will be the one to do it. But the reason we chose them is for expediency. We believe that since they are from the private sector, it would be faster.  We don’t have the budget for this. We don’t have the appropriation to hire a consultant to design a master plan,” Poblete told reporters.

He said the city’s Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) also lacks the expertise to conduct the study.

“We cannot make developments in private lands, so we’ll go with the drainage mains where they can tap and connect to their own drainage,” he said.

He said the current problem is dealing with rainwater runoff that should drain in the pond or directly to the sea.

Mayor Rama said he would call a meeting for this next week since he’s busy this week for the annual budget preparations and the filing of Certificates of Candidacy.

“It’s better to hear them out before I give an advance statement,” he said.

Last July FLI wrote to Mayor Michael Rama asking the city to address recurring urban flooding in the SRP, especially with ongoing major developments there.

The letter prompted Rama to convene a task force with the three developers as members.

In August, after several meetings, it was announced that the developers would commission DCCD Engineering Corp., a Manila-based firm engineering consultancy, to undertake the study.

The consultant was to meet with city officials and developers to prepare the study’s terms of reference .

DCCD’s previous projects include Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa, RCBC Plaza in Makati City and Rockewell commercial and residential projects, among others.