BAGUIO CITY – The proposed multi-billion development of the city’s deteriorating public market is a no-done deal yet although Robinsons Land Corporation gained an advantage from the city’s Public-Private Partnership for the People (P4) Selection Committee.
City Administrator Bonifacio dela Peña, chairman of the city’s P4 Selection Committee, said that the committee recommendation for the pre-qualification of Robinsons proposal does not mean the project has already been awarded to the company as the terms will still be negotiated by the parties before striking a final deal.
After the pre-qualification, he claimed that Robinson’s Original Proponent Status (OPS) will be opened to allow other interested companies to challenge the offer for the long-overdue market development.
SM Prime Holdings, one of the companies that submitted its better market development proposal to the P4, plans to challenge Robinsons offer.
SM representatives claimed the firm submitted complete documents supporting its more comprehensive proposal that included a long-term commitment beneficial to the city once the offer will be selected.
SM Prime is offering to lease the market for a maximum of 50 years with plans to build a 7-storey structure within a little over 3 hectares of the city public market area, with the first 2 floors to accommodate the current market vendors, 2 basement parking and 3 more floors where 2 floors will operate as a mall and the top most floor will be a green space.
Further, a group of market vendors also plans to challenge the declared original proponent although the consortium of market cooperatives were initially disqualified for their alleged failure to possess the juridical personality to participate in the offer.
Earlier, the city government offered to interested developers some 3 hectares of the city public market area for the desired development through the city’s P4 ordinance that prescribed the processes on how to undertake the project.
However, Robinsons proposed to develop some 4.5 hectares for the put up of two buildings where one will be owned by the city for its market while the other will be for the company’s mixed-use endeavors although the land area is way over the 3-hectare developable area being offered by the city for the market project.
Concerned sectors raised concern on the decision of the city’s P4 Selection Committee in granting the Original Proponent Status (OPS) to Robinsons which did not comply with the required financial and technical data that should have been made available to allow the members to come out with a more dependable evaluation and assessment of the proposals for the market development.
The questionable action of majority of the embers of the P4 Screening Committee prompted the concerned sectors to come out with an online petition calling on the city government not to accept unsolicited proposals for the market development and instead partner with market cooperatives to pursue the desired development of the market facility. By Hent
