BEFORE THE MAY POLLS: World record fireworks try to highlight launch of SRP

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government will finally be launching the 300-hectare South Road Properties to coincide with the attempt of Pyroworks, one of the major producers of pyrotechnic shows in Cebu, to break the Guinness World Record for the largest fireworks display.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that the launching may be already long overdue, but surely it will be held before the May 10 elections.

Osmeña said that when Pyroworks asked the city’s help to organize the attempt to break the Guinness Record at the SRP where they are set to light 110,000 fireworks in less than a minute, he thought it would be the best opportunity to launch the SRP project even if it has been operating for a few years now.

The existing record of largest fireworks display consisted of 66,326 fireworks on December 31, 2006 in Madeira, Portugal.

He said the city will also break the longest barbecue record during the launching. The longest barbecue recorded measured 3,803.96 meters done in 2008 in Pangasinan.

The entry is found at page 113 of the 2010 book edition of the Guinness World Records.

Pyroworks and the city government are still finalizing on the sharing of expenses for the activity.

But Osmeña said that the city definitely has to spend for the attempt to break longest barbecue record because it will be an activity of the city in line with SRP launching.

With regard to the fireworks display where millions of pesos will be needed, Osmeña said they will look for sponsors to minimize expenses.

The SRP has 300 hectares of waterfront land where 240 hectares of which are reclaimed. The project commenced in the mid 1990s and was ready for occupancy in 2005.

The project’s cost reached over 12 billion Japanese Yen funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

“The SRP was designed for mixed land use and can accommodate manufacturing, commercial, tourism, IT and other service enterprises,” according to SRP primer. It is registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority as a Special Economic Zone.

The first company to invest in the SRP was Bigfoot Properties Inc. which built a film-making facility in a two-hectare property it leased from the city government for 25 years. The project cost reached about three billion US dollars.

In February last year, the city government has entered into a sale and joint venture with the Filinvest Land Inc. to develop a 50.6 hectare area of the SRP.

And just this year, after three years of negotiation, SM Prime holdings sealed the P2.7 billion deal to buy 30.4 hectare lot at the SRP where it planned to build a convention facility, a shopping mall, school, hospitals and a high rise residential condominiums for the next five years. —