MGDC gets clearance to proceed on Manila Bay reclamation project

Manila Goldcoast Development Corporation (MGDC) said the issuance of a Notice to Proceed (NTM) by the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) as well as a Notice to Commence Actual Reclamation Works (NTCARW) has cleared the way for its 148-hectare Manila Bay reclamation project.

In a statement, the company said that the NTM and NTCARW were issued last February 22 by the PRA, through PRA Governing Board Resolution No. 5265 series of 2021, to the consortium of the MGDC and the City of Manila to build the Manila Solar City project at the reclaimed area. PRA’s issuance of NTM and NTCARW followed the "no objection" clearance from the Office of the President, the company said.

The PRA, in the resolution, said it issued the NTM and the NTCARW pursuant to the issuance of a clearance by no less than Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Jr., to the Manila Bay reclamation project.

PRA had received a memorandum from Executive Secretary Medialdea last February 18 where the official assured that the OP has no objection to the start of the project.

"This refers to your Memorandum dated 07 December 2020, requesting authority from the Offie 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," Medialdea said in the Feb. 18, 2021 memorandum.

"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 shall be acted upon separately," Medialdea noted.

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

The Solar City Manila project had been proposed way back more than 30 years ago as the Manila Goldcoast Reclamation Project (MGRP), which secured in 1991 a greenlight from the then Public Estates Authority (PEA), predecessor of the PRA, to pursue the project as the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road Reclamation-North Sector Reclamation Project (MCCRR-North Sector Reclamation).

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