Council moves to rename SRP

The City Council is considering a proposal renaming the South Reclamation Project to South Road Properties since it identifies a legitimate business area ready for investors.

Councilor Edgardo Labella, chairman of the council committee on laws, ordinance, good government and public accountability, sponsored the proposal.

"The 295-hectare South Reclamation Project is now considered finished project. One fundamental way to make the South Reclamation Project more attractive to local and foreign investors is to remake it as South Road Properties," Labella said in his proposal.

The SRP, a joint venture by the city government and the Japan Bank International Cooperation, was designed as a special economic zone providing industrial space in the city and Metro Cebu.

Now in its final stages of completion, the SRP can easily accommodate the manufacturing, commercial, tourism and information technology service enterprises.

But the proposal, which will be tackled in the next council session on Wednesday, will be referred to the council committee on laws and ordinance for study.

If the proposal will be approved, Labella said the Office of the Manager of the South Road Properties under the Office of the Mayor is mandated to implement the ordinance.

The renaming of SRP was proposed in order not to cause confusion with the South Reclamation Area that would be created in Mandaue City.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña decided to formalize the renaming of SRP to have its own identity. It would be patented before the Department of Trade and Industry under the name South Road Properties.

Osmeña's move, according to city administrator Francisco "Bimbo" Fernandez, stemmed from Mandaue City's ambitious South Reclamation Area project comprising 180 hectares.

Fernandez said that having the multi-billion project registered with DTI would boost the economy of

Cebu City. Osmeña earlier said that he was not insecure with Mandaue City's own reclamation project, even expecting more development in the neighboring city triggered by that huge undertaking.

Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano had said that there is actually no competition between the two cities since some lots in Mandaue City's reclamation area were already sold.

Ouano added that there would be no confusion over the names of the two reclamation areas since their project will be called "New Mandaue City," a term coined by his father, former mayor Alfredo "Pedong" Ouano. - Garry B. Lao