Cebu Town, SM Sign Agreement on 1,500-hectare P138-B Reclamation Project

(PNA) — Officials of the municipality of Cordova, Cebu and SM Prime Holdings Inc. on Wednesday formally signed a joint venture agreement for the 1,500-hectare Cordova Reclamation and Horizontal Development Project.

The reclamation project, expected to be the biggest in the country and estimated to cost Php138 billion, will be finished in seven to eight years.

Cordova has a total land area of less than 800 hectares and the reclamation would almost triple the town’s land area.

Cordova, Cebu Mayor Adelino Sitoy said what would follow after the signing is the submission of all pertinent papers to the Philippine Reclamation Authority and eventually to the Office of the President through the National Economic Development Authority.

Sitoy said he is confident President Benigno C. Aquino III would approve the project, which would be undertaken under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

“Knowing the mentality of the president, he also wants to leave a legacy because he is stepping out in 2016,” he said.

Sitoy said the approval of the “very big” project would be attributed to President Aquino and his administration once he signs it.

“His role is the biggest role also. I’m sure that he wants the people to remember him also through this project,” he said.

SMPHI Senior Vice President David Rafael said that once the reclamation is done, the project is going to be a master planned development and mixed use project that would include residential, commercial and institutional structures and a cruise ship terminal.

“We’ll make sure that it’s properly planned so that it will be livable, it will be sustainable, and it’s really going to be something the country will be proud of,” Rafael said. (PNA) FPV/EB/PJN