Water, power deals for SRP to be finished this month

CEBU, Philippines - The negotiations for the water and power utilities for the South Road Properties will be finalized before the end of the month.

Developments at the SRP are now fast-paced with the finalizations of negotiations for the water and electricity providers, according to Joel Mari Yu, head of the Cebu Investment and Promotions Center, the marketing arm of the SRP.

For water, Yu said he may submit on Monday his evaluation on the proposal of Pilipinas Water Resources Inc. to city administrator Francisco Fernandez who will submit this to acting Mayor Michael Rama.

Rama is part of the Joint Venture Selection Committee that will look over the water proposal and also come up with the provisions for the requirement of other entities interested to bid.

The treatment of the water proposal is like the processing of the Filinvest Land Inc. proposal which is under joint venture,

Once the terms of reference of the joint venture are in place, there will be a publication of notice for interested bidders, submission of bids and awarding of the project.

On the other hand, the city government has decided to let the Visayan Electric Company supply electricity to the 306-hectare area considering that the SRP is within the jurisdiction of the franchise.

Yu said the memorandum of agreement will be finalized next week followed by a resolution authorizing Rama to sign the document.

Both utilities will be charged with distribution fee per kilowatt-hour and per cubic meter considering that the SRP is operating as a special economic zone.

The FLI legal group will be in town next week for the legalities on the initial transfer of titles of the two hectares which were conditioned to be conveyed by the city government after the payment of the P330-million down payment.

FLI was awarded recently to develop 50.6-hectare area for residential and commercial spaces at a P25-billion investment. — Ferliza C. Contratista/BRP   (THE FREEMAN)