In this June 26, 2013 photo, (from left) Minglanilla Councilor Robert John Selma, Minglanilla Vice Mayor Elanito Pena and Minglanilla Mayor Eduardo Selma sign the agreement with Ming-Mori Development Corp. Chairman and President Joe Soberano and Ming-Mori Development Corp. Vice Chairman and Vice President Ricardo King for the Minglanilla reclamation and industrial park development project.
The Cebu Provincial Reclamation Authority (CPRA) is set to endorse to the Provincial Board (PB) a 100-hectare reclamation project by the Minglanilla municipal government and a private developer.
After a closed-door meeting at the Capitol yesterday, the CPRA moved to issue a certificate of “no intervention” for the project with Ming-Mori Development Corporation.
Among those present were Gov. Hilario Davide III as CPRA chairman, Minglanilla Mayor Elanito Peña and Vice Mayor Robert Selma, and other Capitol officials.
Investment Promotions Officer Benjamin Joseph Yap, who sat in the meeting, said the recommendation is not the same as approving the project.
The project was already approved by the CPRA in July this year.
He said that yesterday’s recommendation is part of the endorsement to the Provincial Board.
“The (CPRA) recognizes that there is no problem with the project being at the site. There is no objection to the project being in the actual location,” he told Cebu Daily News.
Once the project is green-lighted by the PB, it will be forwarded to the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) for final approval.
Yap clarified that pending approval of the PRA, the municipal government and private contractor will still have to secure other requirements like an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources.
Mayor Peña said the town already submitted the requirements for the PRA.
The mayor said all they need now are the endorsements.
“We’ve been told by the PRA that the start of the project is only just a few steps away,” said Peña.
Whether the project will finally be approved next year, Peña said he still could not say.
“It’s up to the PB and the PRA now,” he said.
Peña said the project is estimated to cost “more than a billion pesos.”
The proposed plan is seen to pave way for the construction of an industrial park that will host 45 light industrial plants of local and foreign locators in the coast of barangays Calajo-an and Tulay.
Mayor Peña said the project will generate more jobs for residents and increase the town’s income threefold.
It will be undertaken as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP.
Minglanilla will not spend anything since the project will be fully funded by the developer.