‘Solar City’ to utilize hi-tech waste management, conservation technology

By

Mayor Joseph Estrada yesterday gave assurance that the soon-tobe-built Solar City commercial and business district in Manila Bay will not harm the environment as it will utilize the latest technology in energy generation, solid waste management and environmental conservation.

Mayor Estrada believes big-ticket infrastructure projects, such as the 148-hectare Solar City, would help bring back Manila to its former glory.

“We need these new developments, not only because of its positive economic impact. It will certainly beautify Manila without destroying our environment, especially our historic Manila Bay,” he said.

Solar City is a multibillion-peso tourism, commercial and residential district in Manila Bay that will host business centers, residential and commercial properties, and tourism facilities, including an international cruise ship terminal.

The project proponent, Manila Goldcoast Development Corp. (MGDC), has partnered with the city government of Manila to reclaim and develop the awarded reclamation project.

Edmundo Lim, vice chairman of Manila Goldcoast, said the Solar City reclamation project will use “cuttingedge” technology available only in Europe, US and Canada.

“We will be much better because we’re putting the best technology in the world: power generation through solar wind and biomass, state-of-theart waste collection systems, and environment protection measures,” he said.

“This will be the first project in the country to incorporate all these technologies,” the official added.

Lim said Solar City will not further pollute Manila Bay because it will be using sophisticated waste reduction technology.

“Solar City will beautify it (Manila Bay) and we’ll make sure we are not surrounded by waste because otherwise our project will not be high-end,” he said.

Mayor Estrada earlier said Solar City is a rich revenue source for the city government as it is projected to generate up to P17 billion in taxes every year on top of the P10 billion in real property taxes.

The reclamation project is also expected to generate 100,000 jobs during the construction and up to 500,000 more once it becomes operational.