THE South Road Properties (SRP) is the gateway to the development of Cebu’s economy and its youth, said Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district.
The congressman, who pushed for the reclamation project two decades before, repeated his opposition to the plans of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to sell the lots to raise funds for Cebu City’s budget.
“The SRP is not just another piece of real estate project. It has gone beyond that. It is for the development of Cebu’s economy and our youth,” said Osmeña in a speech to the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) yesterday.
He said new sales could wait until the 30-hectare SM project is complete. Once completed, Osmeña said SRP lot prices are expected to go up to P40,000 per sq. meter just like those at AsiaTown IT Park.
He said the SRP is even better than the IT park because it has less traffic, better peace and order and is located beside the sea.
Osmeña said he wanted to attain his vision of making Cebu City globally competitive and at par with Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore.
He said infrastructure and programs would soon be available at the SRP to make this happen.
Osmeña cited the five-hectare SRP lot donated to the University of the Philippines for use as a school offering post-graduate courses.
Osmeña said he wanted future workers of call centers and other establishments that would rise in SRP to get their masters degrees there.
He said 95 to 98 percent of call centers in Cebu are in Cebu City, whcih accounts for the city’s economic growth.
Osmeña said he wanted to expand the city’s scholarship program to reach more high school graduates and even those who stopped schooling.
At present, the city trants P10,000 to high school graduates to enroll in a college of their choice.
“It is the job of the city to prepare its students to be globally competitive,” he said.
But in order to do this, SRP lot prices have to go up and Osmeña said this would happen upon completion of the SM development project. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac