Investor to turn Compania Maritima into aviary with walk-in park – Tom

CEBU, Philippines - An investor has proposed to lease the Compania Maritima grounds in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City to convert the area into an aviary and a walk-in park.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña said this is one way to settle the ownership issue between the Cebu City Government and the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA).

“This property is in court because Mike Rama (former mayor Michael Rama) claimed ownership. And the court said why don't you get a settlement. My proposed settlement, I have an investor that's willing to invest. It will be good for the people of Cebu and we can split the proceeds,” he told reporters.

Osmeña said the project can be done through public-private partnership with the investor, CPA, and the city government.

He said the investor is a certain Chris Ang who is also constructing a 26-story condominium in Barangay Busay.

The mayor said Ang has several rare birds in Barangay Busay, where the ongoing construction of condominium units is located and had secured environmental permits from Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

As for the project, Osmeña said the abandoned building of Compania Maritima will soon be developed into a hotel, as part of the second phase of the project.

“There's no set time table because we have not gotten any kinds of approval but this person is already here,” he said.

He said he asked Ang to meet representatives of CPA to discuss the proposal.

Osmeña said the CPA board has yet to decide on the proposal.

“This is my way of settling it. Do something that’s good for anything. At the same time, it's not costing us anything. As a matter of fact, we'll make money out of this,” he said.

On his official Facebook Account, Osmeña posted a 2:28-minute visual presentation on how the aviary and the walk in park would look like.

“A PPP project on the site of the old Compania Maritima building: an outdoor cafe with an aviary and park. No cages, just a big enclosed space birds can fly in that you can also walk through. Still in the planning stages, but this is how we envision it,” the post reads.

The post has garnered positive responses from netizens. Over 4,000 netizens have reacted to the post and over 51,000 have viewed the presentation.

In the video, there's an enclosed space where birds can freely fly around. Also, there's a cafe and a restaurant outside the enclosed area. Osmeña said a walk-in park complemented the design.

“If you see the way it’s designed, I cannot imagine somebody not interested in taking a look,” he said. (FREEMAN)