Iloilo City eyes proposals for land reclamation projects

The Iloilo City government is looking for proposals from companies who are interested to undertake land reclamation projects in the metro.

Mayor Jerry Treñas said the city government is planning two reclamation projects which aim to expand the city’s land area, particularly in the northern part of the city and in an area close to the downtown area in City Proper district.

“We are opening our ears to bright minds who want to take part in our shallow water land reclamation projects. The first is a 500-hectare site in the northern part of the city, and a 250-hectare area closer to the downtown,” he said in a statement on Saturday, October 2, 2021.

Treñas pushed for reclamation projects out of the need to expand the city’s area and keep up with its progress.

Once the city receives proposals for reclamation projects before the year end, a Swiss Challenge could be launched before the end of 2022, he added.

The reclamation projects will be implemented under the big-ticket projects of the city government using the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

“A Swiss Challenge could be launched before the end of 2022 if we receive proposals before the year ends. We have been collaborating with PPP Center since August 2019 to develop infrastructures to level up our service,” he said.

Swiss challenge is a procurement system accepted in several jurisdictions, including the Philippines.

The term Swiss Challenge is described in Republic Act No. 6957 or the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) law, as the system to be followed when projects are procured through unsolicited proposals from private sector.

Section 4-A of the BOT law allows acceptance of unsolicited proposals for projects which do not require direct government guarantee, subsidy, or equity and more importantly, which involves a new concept or technology. Notably, Section 10.3 of the implementing rules allows it as long as the proposal involves a new concept or technology.

Section 4-A of the BOT law describes Swiss Challenge procedure as follows:

-Original proponent submits an unsolicited proposal for a qualified project;

-Government will publish for three consecutive weeks, an invitation for comparative or competitive proposals;

-The qualified project shall be awarded to the original proponent if no proposal is received for a period of sixty (60) working days;

In the event another proponent submits a lower price proposal, the original proponent shall have the right to match that price within 30 working days.

The city government has sought the help of PPP Center to solicit help from the private sectors for the funding of the big-ticket projects of Iloilo City such as the revamp of the Iloilo Terminal and Central markets and the Iloilo City slaughterhouse.

In 2017, a private real estate development firm proposed a P45-billion reclamation project in the city.

Marikudo Real Estate Development Corp. (MREDC), in partnership with Sunwest Group of Companies and Van Oord, then presented its Iloilo City Reclamation Project which will cover 365 hectares of reclaimed land in Iloilo Strait along coastal barangays from Ortiz, City Proper to Calumpang, Molo.

The project has two islands – Island A is approximately 115 hectares while island B will be 250 hectares which will be connected by two bridges.

It will extend from Fort San Pedro up to the area between Calumpang and San Juan, in the vicinity of Third Street in Barangay San Juan near the Holy Rosary Reflection Center.

But the project remained on the drawing board since then. (ERS)