Capitol, City Hall, businessman to co-manage Fuente Osmeña

AFTER more than an hour of meeting, major stakeholders of the historic Fuente Osmeña agreed to define their roles and functions in the rehabilitation and development of the important Cebu City landmark.

Mayor Micheal Rama told reporters after the late afternoon meeting that he, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and businessman Michel Lhuillier agreed to come up with a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) defining their respective roles and functions on the rehabilitation and preservation of the landmark.

Lhuillier has offered to City Hall to rehabilitate the Fuente Osmeña, but Governor Garcia had pushed the red light saying Capitol should be involved as it claims ownership over the land where the landmark is located.

Rama said the MOA will spell out the roles of the three parties and mechanisms for joint management.

Rama said that all they are aiming for is the “preservation” of the historical heritage structure.

“I do not wish heritage issues to be tainted with politics. It should be promoted and preserved for our future generation,” he said.

Rama aired concerns last week over delays in the implementation of the Fuente Osmeña rehabilitation project over objections from Capitol which has a pending claim of ownership over the land in the court.

“The court should never be a stumbling block,” he said.

The parties are scheduled to meet again next week to further discuss the issues.

The city government earlier signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Lhuillier for the P13 million Fuente Osmeña rehabilitation project. In fact, Rama and Lhuillier already made a ceremonial groundbreaking held in time of the 100th year anniversary of the Fuente Osmeña fountain last Feb. 14./Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus