Developer given 20 days to report

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of the Environment and Natural Resources is giving Fifth Avenue Property Development Corp., the private developer of the proposed Ciudad project in Apas, 20 days to submit the report of the issues tackled during a public hearing held yesterday.

This is Cebu South District Rep. Tomas Osmeña, raised concerns about the credibility of the developers.

The public hearing, which has been postponed several times already, pushed through with the presence of the private developer proponents, Osmeña, Cebu City Vice Mayor Augustus Young, city and barangay council officials and representatives from DENR, who officiated the hearing.

William Cuñado, chief of the Environmental Impact Assessment office of DENR and the public hearing officer said that they will be waiting for the report in the next 20 days in order for them to make the necessary actions and eventually come up with a decision if the developers can proceed with the project.

The proposed P1.2-billion project to be located in a 2.8-hectare lot owned by the Cebu provincial government would be an establishment with a Cebuano heritage concept that would include a museum, restaurants, markets for small and medium enterprises, department stores and more.

During the public hearing, both those in favor and against the project were given the chance to air out their concerns and ask the developer and DENR to answer their questions.

Tom questions developers

Osmeña who is against the project due to traffic and environmental concerns among a few, pointed out that the background of owners of Fifth Avenue should also be taken into consideration.

He explained that the demolition of the Ramos Market was made by Fifth Avenue along with a promise to provide jobs after the construction work is done. But he said that vendors lost jobs and were not provided any.

Also, Osmeña said that it was also the same developer that was tasked to construct the condominium complex for the urban poor, which he later found out that there was only one urban poor tenant. Michael Dino, president of Fifth Avenue Property Development Corporation, however, clarified that they would have provided jobs after the Ramos market project was done if only they were given the chance to continue.

“Regarding the Ramos Market, we started it, we demolished it but we were told to stop. How can we continue if we were told to stop by the council?”

As for the urban poor condominium, Dino said that they were able to finish the project, but who lives in it after is beyond their control.

“Wala man mi labot kung kinsa ila papuy-on didto. Amo lang, we finished the project.”

Cebu Provincial Attorney Marino Martinquilla said that they chose Fifth Avenue because they believe in the credibility of the company and before they chose the developer, they looked in all aspects including the previous projects.

He said that there were more than 30 bids for the project including major developer SM, but they still chose Fifth Avenue.   Aside from this Osmeña also pointed out some effects to the environment if the project would push through.

He visited the site again yesterday morning and could see that there would be a lot of trees that would be cut.

He challenged DENR to be strict on their implementation of their rules for environmental protection. In fact, Osmeña pointed out that Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, who strongly supports the Ciudad project, scolded DENR recently for cutting trees along the road especially the old and big trees so this should be a major concern.

The project proponents clarified that they will not be cutting down the trees. In fact the big old trees are part of the development plan of the Ciudad project while the small trees which would be affected by the construction would be transferred to a mini forest.

Employment opportunities

The matter on employment opportunities were also raised since the developers and the Apas barangay council signed a Memorandum of Agreement that would assure residents, especially vendors and members of the urban poor organizations that they would have jobs.

The applications would be subject for clarification, but developers confirmed that they would have an urban poor market area as well as an area for students who would want to start a business. Currently, there are over 1,400 applicants from medium and big companies. Among them is an application for a partnership by boxing promoter Rex ‘Wackee’ Salud and world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.  They also have applications from supermarket and theatre operators.

Meanwhile, another concern that was clarified raised yesterday was the validity of the title presented by the proponents as one of the requirements to be issued an Environmental Compliance Certificate by DENR.

The title has reportedly been tagged as cancelled by the register of deeds.

Cuñado, however, said that after submitting it to their legal division, it was found out that the title was valid.

Rowdy crowd

The crowd was reprimanded by Vice Mayor Young for being too noisy. He even hinted that many of those present to support the project were not even from the area.

Jonji Gonzales, spokesperson for the developers, denied this saying, “It’s unfair for Vice Mayor to tag those who attended the public hearing as ‘hakot.’ In a condescending manner, he told them to leave because it was almost noon and made it appear that those who attended were waiting to be fed lunch.

“They were invited and they came just like the people from barangay Luz, who were bringing anti-Ciudad placards who also came on a government bus.” — /NLQ (FREEMAN)