Reclamation plan shelved in ’91 back under Mayor Lim

A RECLAMATION project on Manila Bay that has been scuttled since 1991 is back on the table, with city government officials entering into a consortium agreement to develop a 148-hectare area.

The April 17 agreement between City Hall and Manila Goldcoast Development Corp. was considered the first step in developing a business center in the southern portion of the Manila-cavite Coastal Road Reclamation (MCCRRP) North Sector Reclamation Project (NSRP).

The project area covers the southern end of the bay, including areas fronting the Manila Yacht Club and the Philippine Navy headquarters.

In March 1991, the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), then known as the Public Estates Authority, issued to Goldcoast’s parent company, the Elco Development & Construction Corp., a notice of award allowing the latter to reclaim and develop the southern parcel of the MNSRP.

But in 1992, an ordinance was passed prohibiting any reclamation in the area in a bid to preserve the bay. The Office of the President then ordered the project deferred.

After Goldcoast’s constant followup over the years, and with an executive order in 2006 giving approval powers of reclamation projects back to the PRA, the agency reaffirmed the 1991 awarding of the project to Goldcoast in April last year.

The city council also passed Ordinance No. 8233 authorizing Mayor Alfredo Lim to apply for the reclamation, effectively repealing the 1992 ban.

The city government entered into the agreement with Goldcoast on the condition that the city be included in the consortium undertaking the project and will “be given an equitable share in the reclaimed land.”

Goldcoast will fund and execute the reclamation and provide construction facilities, while the city has agreed to provide utilities, facilitate right-ofway, and to assist in importing or exporting construction tools and even labor.

Sharing of the consortium proceeds shall be 70.55 percent for Goldcoast, and 29.45 percent for the city, the agreement showed.

On Tuesday, the city council began considering a resolution ratifying the agreement, acting on an urgent request from Lim. The issue was referred to the committee on laws.