Osmeña cries politics in P18B Kawit project
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña believes that the members of the opposition in the City Council are just looking for mistakes to delay or reject the proposed P18 billion development project on Kawit Island.
The mayor said that the Barug-PDP Laban councilors are taking advantage of their number by playing politics.
“They’re finding excuses. The restrictions that they are putting in do not favor the buyer. Mostly, it favors the city. If it favors to the city, this should not go back to Swiss Challenge,” he told reporters.
It was Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia who said that the executive department should consider the proposed amendments to at least 10 provisions of the Joint Venture Agreement that the city government will enter with the Universal Hotel and Resorts Inc.
After the city will amend the proposed JVA, Garcia said the contract should be published to invite investors for a Swiss Challenge since it’s a new contract. However, Osmeña said there is no amendment that will favor the UHRI who will undertake the project.
Most of the amendments are in favor of the city that is why there’s no need for a Swiss Challenge, the mayor added. Reacting to the comment of Garcia, Osmeña said the project is “all or nothing” to the opposition team.
“They want to fight it. I’ll just tell the people of Cebu to kick out all of them in the next elections and let’s bring progress back to Cebu,” the mayor said, adding that the ninehectare Kawit property is a non-performing asset for several years.
Osmeña said he considers some of the proposed amendments by the City Council, saying he will resubmit the amended JVA this week so that it will be part of the agenda in the next regular session.
“People will see what they’re doing. They don’t want to see P18-billion project to go up in Cebu City because it demonstrates their incompetence,” Osmeña said.
He said the upcoming barangay and Sanggunian Kabataan elections are the best chance of the current administration to get the majority bloc in the City Council.
As of now, the opposition team has nine members, including Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, while there are only eight in the administration.
The barangay captains and SK chairmen will later elect among themselves their respective president who will sit as ex-officio members of the City Council.
“In the end, it’s the people who will decide. What’s at stake here is if they will continue to have power there, we will lose Kawit Island and they cannot produce any other investor,” Osmeña said.
Sought for comment, Garcia said he will wait for the amended JVA but vowed to stand by his position that it should go through the process. Garcia said the City Council is just looking for the best interest of the city government.
He clarified that the City Council is for the approval of the project since it would generate more jobs, income for the city, among others.
“We are for the project 100 percent but the contract has to be advantageous to the city in the sense nga dili ta ma-shortchanged,” Garcia said.
Garcia said he does not mind if the Swiss Challenge will not be done if it is according to the law.