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[av_heading heading=’MAN-MADE ISLANDS MULLED | Developer bares P45-B Iloilo Strait reclamation’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Tuesday, June 6, 2017
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ILOILO City – Two man-made islands in the Iloilo Strait could expand this city’s land area, stimulate the local economy and generate more jobs.
A local real estate developer proposed to the city government this P45-billion project that will reclaim 365 hectares of land from the strait separating this city from the island province of Guimaras.
The islands will become Iloilo City’s new centers of economic growth, said Ronnie Baterna, president of Marikudo Real Estate Development Corp. (MREDC).
Island A will be approximately 115 hectares while Island B about 250 hectares.
Seven bridges will connect the islands to mainland Iloilo City, said Baterna.
On the other hand, two bridges will connect the two man-made islands separated by a waterway of about 40 meters wide.
The proposal showed the trust and confidence of the business sector in the city government, according to Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.
The city government will study the proposal’s technicalities and hold conduct consultations, said City Administrator Hernando Galvez.
An Environmental Compliance Certificate will be secured to ensure that the reclamation won’t have adverse environmental impacts, according to Baterna.
“It took us over six years to convince our partners about the viability of this major project,” he told city hall reporters yesterday.
MREDC is partnering with Sunwest Group of Companies and Van Oord for this reclamation project along coastal barangays from Ortiz, City Proper to Calumpang in Molo district.
The local developer projected the population to continue growing and this could result to overcrowding and even straining farmlands due to land conversions from agricultural to residential, commercial and institutional uses.
“Future generations of Ilonggos may find it hard to feed themselves because there would very little farmlands left,” said Baterna.
Mabilog hoped the Ilonggos will see positively this proposed reclamation project.
The man-made islands will give Iloilo City new areas for development “not burdened by the faults of creeping progress as normally associated with a growing city,” said Baterna.
Galvez, meanwhile, said the expansion of Iloilo City’s territory would mean a “bigger Internal Revenue Allotment and a lot of job opportunities.”
The man-made islands will extend from Fort San Pedro up to the area between Calumpang and San Juan, in the vicinity of 3rd Street in Barangay San Juan near the Holy Rosary Reflection Center, said Baterna.
MREDC will be submitting a letter of intent to the city government. Reclamation may start two years from its approval, said Baterna.
The approval will come from the Philippines Reclamation Authority (PRA).
“PRA will examine, sila na malantaw whether tama ang proyekto kag ang mga bagay nga maka-affect sa sosyodad,” said Galvez.
Progressive cities abroad increased their land areas through reclamation like those in China, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan, he added. (With a report from the Iloilo City PIO/PN)
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