The Filinvest Cebu Cyberzone, which is shown in an artist’s rendition above, is a P5 billion business process outsourcing complex beside the Cebu I.T. Park. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
Filinvest Land Inc.’s Cyberzone Project, the P5-billion business process outsourcing (BPO) complex, beside the Cebu IT Park will have its soft opening tomorrow with the assurance that the controversial wall demolition issue has been resolved.
“The dispute on the wall has been resolved. What we’re working on now are the minor and very technical details such as the location of Filinvest’s parking area,” said Cebu Provincial Board Member Grecilda “Gigi” Sanchez in an interview yesterday.
Cebu Provincial officials are mediating the conflict between Filinvest and the Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp. (CPVDC) over the demolition of a perimeter wall that separates the two properties.
Sanchez said they are about to finalize a deal with both real estate developers, which will allow the demolition of the wall along W. Geonzon Street and connect the Ayala-owned IT Park and the new BPO complex of Filinvest.
Included in the deal will be the establishment of two additional access points inside the IT Park going to the adjacent Banilad-Talamban corridor, said Sanchez.
She said the agreement will not only solve the dispute on access but also the anticipated problem on vehicular traffic once the BPO complex becomes part of the IT Park.
If possible, she said, they will sponsor a Provincial Board (PB) resolution authorizing the governor to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the purpose as early as next week.
“We can even take care of the demolition of the wall while Ayala will take care of establishing the connecting roads to Ban-Tal,” she added.
The Cebu provincial government has been facilitating talks between Filinvest and CPVDC for the past five months to resolve the dispute since “the Capitol has interests in both projects,” said Sanchez.
Cebu province was a shareholder in CPVDC and at the same time has a Build-Transfer-Operate contract with Filinvest for the Cyberzone project which is situated on former site of the Cebu city jail, a province-owned lot.
Settlement
Last month, CPVDC and Asiatown I.T. Park Association Inc. sought an injunction before the court to stop any demolition of the wall on W. Geonzon Street.
Named defendants in the petition were the City of Cebu; Megawide Construction Corp.; Filinvest; Engr. Nazareno Abalos, project manager of Filinvest’s Cebu Cyberzone Project; and Alfon.
The Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10 in Cebu City issued a 72-hour temporary restraining order which was later on extended to 20 days by Executive Judge Soliver Peras and ended last Nov. 16.
With the agreement in place, Sanchez said the Capitol expects the case to be withdrawn by CPVDC and the association of locators in I.T. Park.
Decongest
Aside from providing access, officials are also looking into the possibility of improving vehicle traffic in the vicinity.
She said part of the solution is to establish more connecting roads from the Filinvest property to IT Park which would lead to the Banilad-Talamban (BanTal) road.
Sanchez said they have agreed to open two access points inside the IT Park: one near the store of Krispy Kreme and the other near the building of JP Morgan and Chase.
The other access road from the IT Park to the BanTal Road is through the unfinished Ciudad project.
For today’s soft opening, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama are expected to attend the activity.
Related Stories:
Ayala told to address Geonzon wall issue
Capitol still mediating IT Park wall dispute; TRO ends Nov. 16
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
