RECLAMATION PROJECTS IN CENTRAL VISAYAS

RECLAMATION projects are making headlines in Central Visayas. Environmentalists and other concerned residents in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental are up in arms over a proposed two-island, 174-hectare reclamation project. They don’t share the excitement of Mayor Felipe Remollo over a project that includes a yacht club that will become “the docking space of the rich and famous of Dumaguete and the adjoining cities” and a “heliport in which the visitors and all the dignitaries can land their choppers” as the project proponent’s promotional video advertises. Marine protected areas with corals and seagrass have to go. According to the construction company and proponent EM Cuerpo Inc., the objective of the ambitious 5-G Ready Smart Dumaguete City project is to “solve the wastewater pollution issue and to put an end to an enormous ocean wave threat” (Negros Chronicle, July 11, 2021).

In Consolacion, Cebu, 235.8 hectares of foreshore and islandtype reclamation are forcing shipyard operators to relocate. The shipyards have been located in Barangay Tayud, Consolacion’s most populous barangay (village), for more than half a century. But this year, Mayor Joannes Alegado told them that they must go. Shipping companies and the Philippine Navy reportedly prefer the Tayud-based shipyards to other shipyards due to proximity. An estimated 25 percent of Tayud’s 23,208 residents are said to depend on the shipyards for employment and livelihood.

South of Cebu City is the town of Minglanilla where construction of a 100-hectare island-type reclamation project will commence soon. The Minglanilla Techno-Business Park has long been planned. Its environmental compliance certificate was issued a year ago, and recently, the Philippine Reclamation Authority approved the project. This project goes beyond the usual residential, leisure and commercial space development. Rather, Cebu Landmasters Inc., the developer, is eyeing light manufacturing industries and technology-driven businesses as locators and with this the creation of an estimated 74,000 jobs.

Cordova on Mactan Island intends to almost double its size by building four artificial islands with a total land area of 1,500 hectares. Three of the islands will be located adjacent to the soonto-be-completed Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway. All the town’s 13 barangay stand to be affected by the reclamation project that aims to transform Cordova into a “world-class lifestyle destination” to include a golf course. SM Prime Holdings is the private partner.

Reclaiming land, even building artificial islands, is not new.

While such undertakings have profound impact on the coastal ecology, large human settlements and human activity in coastal areas already adversely impact the environment. For instance, industrial and household waste streams pollute shores and seas. Crowded neighborhoods of dwellings built on stilts on the water along the shore are common sources of pollution of coastal environments due to lack of toilets and garbage collection.

Su Yin Chee and colleagues in a study from 2017 pointed out that “coastal ecosystems support disproportionally higher densities of people,” not least in Asia. The authors see high-rise buildings as only a temporary solution to scarcity of land while reclamation is “one of the few (other) solutions to provide space and counteract erosion” (“Land reclamation and artificial islands: Walking a tightrope between development and conservation,” Su Yin Chee et al., published in Global Ecology and Conservation, October 2017). However, the increasing awareness about land reclamation’s adverse impact on coastal ecosystems has also guided planners and developers in coming up with more sustainable designs. Thus, through “appropriate planning and management, cities can be designed to have reduced ecological footprints and even promote urban biodiversity and conservation.”

That’s in theory, of course. While local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas are getting crowded with less available space for infrastructure, housing, business, leisure, etc., we still need to ask ourselves if reclaiming land — which is an extremely costly solution — is the answer. “Are they necessary?” asked Gordon Alan Joseph of Cebu Business Club and chairman of the infrastructure development and power subcommittee of the Central Visayas Regional Development Council (PDI, Jan. 26, 2021). He would rather that LGUs focus on solving the existing more or less perennial problems of “flooding, environmental degradation, water supply, garbage and traffic.” “Let’s fix what land assets we have first,” the businessman said.

Indeed, while reclamation projects are not bad per se, they come at a high price for the affected communities, the environment and society in general. The benefits of each project must be weighed carefully against the negative impacts. Are the reclamation projects well planned and undertaken by parties with proven track record and competence? Have affected people and communities been properly informed and consulted? Are programs in place to adequately compensate those who lose work, income and homes? Many citizens are suspicious of the motives of their local political leaders when huge projects, such as land reclamation, are seemingly rushed with less than a year to go before elections.