by: DONALD SEVILLA
Second Part of a Series:
WHY I AM AGAINST ANY LARGE SCALE RECLAMATION
PROJECT ALONG TAGBILARAN BAY
During the Nov.20 forum initiated by the City Government of
Tagbilaran. the proponent/developer of the Tagbilaran
Waterfront Development Project presented and unveiled its
plans to city residents.
It was bold and audacious talking of world-class waterfront
development projects similar to the likes of Singapore,
Hongkong and other beautiful cities around the world.
Aesthetically, the plans were beautiful, having been designed
by a renowned architectural firm based in the famous city
state of Singapore. While it talked of progress and job
creation and substantial revenues to the Tagbilaran City
coffers, these figures were at best assumptions should the
project be deemed a success.
The developers saw a need for the project to help solve the
city”s problems, to decongest traffic in the downtown
commercial areas and its main arteries and to address the
wastewater treatment facility for its drainage. Moreover it
talked of expanding the city’s growth as accordingly there
were no longer available large tracts of land for township
development, a self-‘contained enclave within a city and
which arguably is now the trend for future urban
developments.
At first glance, it was impressive as any real estate agent’s
sales pitch. But peeling off the layers one by one, leads us to
question whether such move was timely, needed in urgency
or the only option available to spur much- needed
development of Tagbilaran.
Having prime real estate property is any developer’s dream
and what could be more attractive than having a
development overlooking the water or an exclusive enclave
with access to coveted views of nature’s beauty?
Reclaiming the sea became the easiest and cheapest way to
owning land in a viable solution to find ways to acquire it, in a
highly competitive and pricey market environment.
Land prices skyrocket when plans for development are
introduced which is a turnoff to potential investors. Thus
having an option to get land cheaper by reclaiming it, rather
than buying it outright is preferable.
A few years back it was estimated that the cost of
reclamation was around Php5-6,000/ sq.mtr as compared to
buying existing land which could run into the tens of
thousands. This was true when Cebu’s South Road property
development was started and paved the way for a trend in
major urban expansion and development.
While a lucrative proposition for its investors, reclamation
projects sometimes fail to take into account the irreversible
changes it can inflict on the natural environment.
In cities like Singapore where the land area is sparse and
limited they have no better option than to reclaim the sea.
Dubai has conveniently developed seaside properties and
man-made islands but not without a cost to its environment.
Recent videos circulating on the internet have shown
incidents of flooding during heavy downpour which was
unheard of before.
The gains of commercialization may outweigh the harm it
could do to the environment for some, but at the end of the
day, things we do to drastically alter Mother Nature would
eventually come to haunt us back.
The proposed Tagbilaran bay reclamation to be done in
phases, involves the construction of man-made islands
approximately about 30m from the lowest tide along the
shorelines of Booy and Taloto still allowing enough access
for marginal fishermen and shell gatherers to the sea’s
bounties according to the proponents.
But can you imagine what would happen to the mangroves in
the area, breeding ground for our fishes? The natural flow of
tidal waters will be greatly affected as these structures would
obstruct it.
Gaining access to the reclaimed land could be by causeways
built from the mainland which too can adversely affect the
natural flow of water into the sea. The waters in between the
mainland and the reclaimed island could become stagnant
without the freeflow of the ebbing tide and thus eventually kill
the existing marine life.
There are so much more concerns that can only be
addressed with a detailed environmental impact study on the
marine biodiversity and ecosystems in the area that would
not be favorable to a project of this type.
Yet if we only see the material gains from projects of this
magnitude and see it as progress without considering the
irreversible harm it could do to the environment then we
might as well go for it.
Of course it’s not all about money and jobs and livelihood,
figures which for now are quite speculative. We talk about the
generation of 57,000 jobs from this project but are these solid
real life data?
“A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.” Are we willing to
gamble our future generations and risk our beautiful
Tagbilaran bay sunsets for progress and development when
nature has given our city its unique charm which is priceless?
These are points to ponder and a lot more!
To be continued….