The Davao City government has terminated its joint venture with Mega Harbour Port and Development, Inc. (MHPDI) that would see the construction of a P38-billion port city and the mounting of an urban renewal program in the city within the next five years.
Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, in a statement on July 25, said the city government on July 19 communicated to MHPDI its decision “not to proceed with the Davao Coastline and Development Project.”
“The decision came after about more than a year of careful review and study of the available documents and after weighing out the intentions of the project against its commercial viability, legal and social implications, and the project’s possible effects [on] the environment,” Carpio said.
“Our decision to terminate the joint venture agreement is coupled with a resolve that Davao City can really move forward and answer the call of economic growth by implementing highly sustainable projects, both commercially and environmentally,” she added.
Carpio said the city government understands that there are various legal repercussions for its decision and added it is ready to answer them in the proper forum.
“I assure you, all Davaoeños, that in coming up with this decision, the paramount consideration has been your welfare and the future of Davao City,” the mayor said.
Then outgoing mayor and now Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on June 21 signed the unsolicited project with MHPDI, a port city developer under businessman Reghis Romero II.
The project included a world-class port city where an industrial park-cum-international port and a commercial business district would rise. The central business district would be host to business process outsourcing establishments, banks, a convention center, and malls.
At the same time, an urban renewal program was to be established, featuring a flood-control mechanism to be built across the proposed port city to alleviate flooding of the coastal residential area comprised of Agdao and Poblacion Districts and Barangay Bucana, and seeking to regain the lost coastline of Davao City.
The stretch of the coastal residential district would be lined with greenery, main roads cleared, and zoning rationalized. Pockets of organized commercial outlets would be in place to showcase local products.
The project also intended to adopt the green urbanism concept, where care for the environment and following the natural footprint of Davao would be the prime consideration. From the regained coastline, hotels and resorts would be built. All this, Mega Harbour had said, would strengthen Davao City’s stake in the tourism and convention industry.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
