THE Philippine Reclamation Authority will implement at least 80 reclamation projects over the next six years, including the ambitious Solar City commercial and business district to be put up in Manila Bay, former President and incumbent Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said Wednesday.
Estrada said the city government is almost finished processing the applications for permits and clearances of the Manila Goldcoast Development Corp., which won the joint contract with the city back in 1991.
“We’re happy that President Duterte has endorsed the Solar City project. This will definitely bring more economic development to our city,” Estrada said, recounting his previous meeting with Duterte in Malacañang when the President expressed his support to the project.
Solar City, Estrada said, is projected to generate up to P17 billion in taxes every year, P10 billion in real property taxes and 100,000 jobs during the construction phase and up to 500,000 more when it becomes operational.
“When I assumed office in 2013, Manila has the most number of jobless people. With the Solar City project, we can provide jobs to thousands of Manileños,” Estrada said.
PRA Chairman Alberto Agra said Duterte has ordered the speedy completion of the multi-billion peso infrastructure projects to help usher in economic progress under his administration.
“We have more than 80 reclamation projects in the pipeline, in various stages. There will be more, mostly in Visayas and Mindanao,” Agra said. “Clearly, this is a priority of the President to bring progress, to create more communities, ease traffic, and reduce poverty.”
The most notable in the planned reclamation projects set to be implemented by PRA is the multi-billion, state-of-the-art Solar City, a new tourism, commercial and residential district in Manila Bay to be constructed by the MGDC.
Other reclamation works in the pipeline include the 635.14-hectare Las Piñas-Parañaque Coastal Bay project; Mactan North Reclamation and Development project in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; Aklan Beach Zone Restoration and Protection Marina Development Project in Malay, Aklan; and the 108-hectare reclamation venture of the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. in Bacolod City.
Contrary to fears raised by critics that the project will cover Manila Bay’s famed sunset, project proponents have assured that it will not because Solar City will be built perpendicular and not parallel to the world famous bay.
The reclamation project entails creation of three islands totaling 148 hectares in the Manila Bay, where business centers, residential and commercial properties, and tourism facilities, including an international cruise ship terminal, will be put up.