MANDAUE PAYS P200M TO CAPITOL FOR CICC

The remaining P100-M will be paid to the Capitol in the middle of this year

The Mandaue City Government recently paid P200 million to the Cebu Provincial Government for the purchase of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) building.

Mayor Gabriel Luis Quisumbing said that the City issued two checks for the initial payment of the structure about two weeks ago. The partial payment represented two-thirds of the total price that Mandaue has to pay.

The Capitol has agreed to sell the CICC building to the Mandaue City Government for P300 million. The City owns the lot in the North Reclamation Area where the structure sits.

The CICC, which was built in 2006 when Deputy Speaker Gwen Garcia was governor, has been idle after it was severely damaged during the 7.2-magnitude earthquake and typhoon Yolanda in 2013. The compound is occupied at present by fire survivors of Barangays Guizo and Mantuyong in Mandaue.

Quisumbing said that the remaining P100 million will be given in the middle of this year.

Not a cent more

“We are now ready to begin entertaining offers, but we would like to pursue a PPP (public-private partnership) rather than have the City Government spend money to be able to, well, quite frankly, demolish and rebuild a structure that will be suitable for commercial development,” he said in an interview.

Once the City Government fully acquires the CICC, Quisumbing plans that the facility will have a convention space and spur other economic activities.

Previously, the mayor said that CICC would only be purely a place for conventions. While it would be useful to Metro Cebu, he said that a large-scale convention would not happen every day.

The mayor said that in initial talks, he told some interested parties that if they will be chosen, they must hire people from Mandaue and prioritize those in Barangays Guizo and Mantuyong.

“The least number of jobs created will be close to about 2,500 with a maximum of between 5,000 and 7,000 jobs,” said Quisumbing.

He said that a private entity that will partner with the City Government will be the one to redevelop and operate the CICC.

“(After the P300million payment), I’m not going to spend a single centavo more on CICC,” said Quisumbing. /

SUNSTAR FOTO / ALLAN CUIZON NEW LEASE ON LIFE. Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing says that the City will look for private sector partners to redevelop and operate the Cebu International Convention Center, now idle for nearly 5 years. The City needs one last payment of P100...