Call Center City plan put on hold till after 2019 polls

The planned Call Center City project to be built on a 60 hectare lot at the South Road Properties in Cebu City has hit a snag with the project being put in the freezer for now or until Mayor Tomas Osmeña gets reelected in the 2019 elections. CDN file photo

Investors wary: Tomas Osmeña must first win elections

The Call Center City, a one-stop shop for the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, may have to wait.

This developed after Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced that several investors, who expressed interest in the project, had been concerned whether it would push through.

Osmena said that the Call Center City, which had been planned to be built on a 60-hectare lot at the South Road Properties (SRP), might be implemented only after the midterm elections this May 2019.

“The investors have told me that I have to win the elections first. They told me that they like the project but how can they enter now if I don’t win the elections,” said
Osmeña.

Although he refused to give an estimate, Osmeña said “there are a lot” of investors who are interested in the Call Center City project.

One of them was Qualfon, whose president, Abelardo Cruz, paid Osmeña a visit last Monday expressing interest over the project.

In an earlier interview, the mayor said they would be aiming to start the project’s implementation before the year ends.

The Call Center City will not only house companies involved in the BPO industry such as call centers but also a dormitory and schools offering masters degree.

“Imagine, the seamless transition from studying to working means uninterrupted sleep and rest on the other half of your day. We plan to incorporate a dormitory in the same complex. Imagine, work, study and sleep in the same building,” Osmeña explained.

He also said the city government might lend the land for free.

“The City will do its share to help. If there are enough BPO workers interested, Cebu City will lend land for free. That’s our contribution to make it financially feasible for the stakeholders: investors, schools, BPOs and most importantly you, the Cebuano worker,” Osmeña said.