MGDC secures approval of PRA for Solar City Manila development

MANILA Bay will soon become the location of a commercial, residential and tourism hub in the country after its proponent received the go signal to start the development of the ambitious project.

The Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) has issued a Notice To Mobilize (NTM), as well as a Notice to Commence Actual Reclamation Works (NTCARW), paving the way for the 148-hectare Manila Bay reclamation project of the Manila Goldcoast Development Corp. (MGDC) to develop the proposed Solar City Manila.

Through its Governing Board Resolution No. 5265 series of 2021, the PRA issued both notices last February 22 to the consortium of the MGDC and the City of Manila.

In the resolution, the PRA said it issued the NTM and the NTCARW pursuant to the issuance of a clearance by no less than the Office of the President (OP), via executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, to the Manila Bay reclamation project.

Last February 18, it received a memorandum from Medialdea, wherein he gave assurance that the OP does not oppose the start of the project.

“This refers to your Memorandum dated 07 December 2020, requesting authority from the Office of the President to issue the Notice to Mobilize (NTM) and the Notice to Commence Actual Reclamation Works (NTCARW) for the Manila Solar City Project, as well as the confirmation of the PRA Board Resolution relative thereto,” the executive secretary said in the memo.

“Pursuant to executive Order Nos. 543 (s. 2006) and 74 (s.2019), considering the Memorandum of this Office dated 01 February 2019 granting clearance to proceed with the Solar City Project, and upon the representations of the PRA on the completion of the documentary requirements and concurrences of the relevant government agencies, please be informed that this Office interposes NO OBJECTION in the grant of the NTM and NTCARW for the Manila Solar City Project, subject to compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations.”

Medialdea said the PRA’S request for NTMS and NTCARWS relative to the Horizon Manila Reclamation Project and Manila Waterfront Reclamation will be acted upon separately.

The MGDC is part of the Solar Group of the Tieng family engaged into entertainment, satellite communications, and property landbanking and development.

The Solar City Manila project had been proposed more than 30 years ago as the Manila Goldcoast Reclamation Project, which secured in 1991 a greenlight from the then- Public estates Authority, predecessor of the PRA, to pursue the project as the Manila-cavite Coastal Road Reclamation-north Sector Reclamation Project (MCCRR-NORTH Sector Reclamation).

Some environmental groups opposed this initiative. even the previous administrations of the local government of Manila imposed a ban on reclamation in the city, making the project stalled for years.

On March 31, 2011, the PRA Board affirmed the “previous award of the MCCRR-NORTH Sector Reclamation Project to Manila Goldcoast Development Corp.”