THE city of Manila stands to earn at least P50 billion in revenues and create more than 500,000 jobs once the Philippine Reclamation Authority issued a notice to proceed for the Manila Solar City Reclamation Project, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said.
During the Manila City Development Council Convention held at the Manila Hotel on Saturday, October 20, Mayor Estrada said the 148-hectare Manila Solar City Reclamation Project will soon start early next year, the biggest reclamation project between the Manila-Pasay border in the south and Roxas Boulevard in the east.
The project would occupy around 3.5 kilometers of Manila Bay’s shoreline.
“Not only will these reclamation projects substantially increase the revenues of our city, it will also generate approximately 500,000 new jobs for our residents,” Estrada said in his speech.
Based on the study made by UP professors, Estrada said Manila has the highest poverty incidence in the National Capital Region because many of them are jobless.
“So in a sense, these reclamation projects are the answer to our prayers. We will be able to provide decent jobs opportunities to our citizens,” Estrada said.
“With this milestone project, we are getting close to achieving our dream of regaining the City of Manila’s old title, the Pearl of the Orient. This will mean a lot to us in terms of revenues and employment and business opportunities,” the Manila mayor, who will be running for the third and last term from the office, said.
The project involves the construction of three 140-hectare islands in Manila Bay, and expected to start with the initial construction and dredging work next year.
“As a positive consequence, the RPT share of barangays will increase accordingly. In the first year, expected additional share will amount to P5 million and P15 million per barangay after five more years,” Estrada said.
Not only barangays will benefit but the project will likewise expand such as social services, state of the art medical equipment, additional salary increases for city employees and more parks and playgrounds for children will be constructed, Estrada said.
He also issued Executive Order 39, creating the Task Force Malinis na Kapaligiran, where a unit will conduct strict implementation of a city-wide cleanliness drive through the enforcement of the city’s anti-littering ordinances and arrest violators.
The Manila mayor also confirmed that the Department of the Interior and Local Government cleared the city of “ghost barangay”.
“This issue has been receiving much attention mainly because the campaign season has unofficially begun and so it has been unfairly used to cast doubts on how we have been running the city,” Estrada said.
