SunStar
+
April 09, 2021
In my columns last week about the P5.5 billion redevelopment plan of Carbon Public Market, I presented all sides of the issue, from the administration to the opposition. The issues that cropped up before and after the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) was signed by Mayor Edgardo Labella and the developer, Megawide Construction Corp., were all laid down and sufficiently answered by both parties. Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who showed some concerns on the redevelopment, was also given a chance to air his side by publishing his letter in this column last April 5.
The opposition belonging to the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan claimed that they and their panel of legal consultants were not given ample time to review the contract. The voting approving the JVA was railroaded by the administration allies. Although the opposition admitted that they have a common stand to oppose the multibillion-peso development because they don’t want to be dragged in legal suits in the future, claiming that the deal is “disadvantageous” to the City Government. They said the present income of Carbon market operations alone is much bigger than what is agreed in the JVA in which Megawide will give P50 million to the City Government every year for the first five years and a 10 percent increase every year until the expiration of the contract for 50 years. They also claimed that a public hearing was not conducted.