Mactan reclamation project to kick off next year

THREE years after it was unveiled, the Mactan North Reclamation Development Project (MNRDP) will push through next year.

Michael Dignos, executive secretary of Lapu-Lapu City Rep. Arturo Radaza told Cebu Daily News they are finalizing the documents for the projects.

“There are a lot of investors asking about the project,” he said.

About 400 hectares will be reclaimed from barangays Ibo, Buaya and Mactan.

“These barangays will be the best suited portion for the reclamation project since they are wide and not so deep in terms of sea level,” Dignos said.

The 400 hectares will be subdivided into four lots.

Lot A will be for port and port related areas; Lot B for warehouses, golf courses and information technology industry; Lot C for commercial and mixed used areas and Lot D for resorts and tourism facilities.

Dignos said the private sector will take the lead in financing the project though he declined to elaborate on the details.

About P10.2 billion set aside for the project will go to civil works and the rest for surveys, engineering works and documentary requirements.

Lapu-Lapu City Hall envisioned a multi-purpose use for the reclamation project.

A portion facing the Mactan Channel will be allocated for commercial, luxury and fastcraft wharfs.

Interior lots will be for commercial and industrial use and the establishment of warehouses.

Lots located near barangays Mactan and Punta Engaño will be set aside for tourism like resorts.

The project was derailed after the Regional Development Council (RDC) then chaired by  Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the project needs their endorsement in order to proceed.

Attempts by Lapu-Lapu city officials to conduct their briefing of the MNRDP were shot down by Capitol officials.

Instead, the RDC voted 31 to 1 to pass two resolutions asking then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to defer the project.

The council also asked that the project should have input from the RDC.

But Dignos said the reclamation project already had approval from Arroyo and an agreement signed with the Philippine Reclamation Authority.

He also denied the reclamation project will constrict water flow in the Mactan channel, saying other reclamation projects in Mandaue City and Consolacion town were also built on the Mactan channel. Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos