Business Mirror, 26 November 2008
ACTING Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he would stick to the stand of Mayor-on-leave Tomas Osmeña regarding the city’s imposed moratorium on development projects in its north district.
Rama said there should be security first for an estimated 5,000 households affected by the provincial government’s plan to recover 50 hectares of prime property in the north, now occupied by informal settlers.
“I would stand by the mayor and subscribe to his view that the city should not abandon these people who are part of the constituency of the city,” Rama told the BusinessMirror.
Rama is the sitting mayor of the city as 60-year-old Osmeña went on indefinite leave for the United States to undergo chemotherapy for cancer in his urinary bladder at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
“If the province will take care of these people, that is the only time we can start talking about the lifting of the moratorium,” Rama said. “A responsible developer should always think about striking a balance between development and the environment.”
The city council in February this year imposed a moratorium on all major developments in the north, citing traffic problems and the need for government infrastructure to cope with the fast development in the area.
The moratorium affects construction of malls, schools and other huge developments, and came in the heat of a publicized quarrel between Osmeña and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia over the Capitol’s land-recovery efforts.
The Capitol’s properties are located in prime properties near the University of the Philippines Cebu in Lahug, the Cebu Business Park in barangay Luz and the Asiatown IT Park in barangay Apas, among others.
Provincial officials said the informal settlers have been given enough time and numerous extensions to pay for the lots they are occupying.
The moratorium affected the P1.2-billion joint-venture Ciudad de Cebu mall project between the province and Fifth Avenue Development Corp., for a 2.8-hectare property in barangay Banilad, which was ready for construction. The province has around 100 hectares of land in the city’s northern district.
Cebu City planners have expressed concern about “overdevelopment” in the city’s northern areas, particularly the Banilad-Talamban corridor which, at present, already serves as a main gateway to major malls, universities and primary schools, as well as major subdivisions.
The corridor already serves as an artery for the Cebu Business Park; the Asiatown IT Park; malls like Banilad Town Center, Ayala Center Cebu and Cebu Country Mall; the University of San Carlos; University of Cebu; University of the Visayas; plush subdivisions like Ma. Luisa; and the thickly populated Talamban area. The provincial government, however, has softened its stand a bit and has even awarded over 500 deeds of sale to informal settlers who have paid for their lots in full.
Being a chartered city, Cebu City residents are not constituents of the provincial government. They do not vote for the governor and other elected provincial officials.
