CEBU CITY – Amid the backlash, the Dumaguete City Council was urged to review the controversial P23-billion reclamation project.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Negros Oriental has approved a resolution urging the Dumaguete City Council to defer and re-evaluate the authority it gave to Mayor Felipe Remollo to enter a proposed Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) on the controversial 174-hectare "Smart City" reclamation project.
The SP pointed out that that the proposed project was done "without prior consultation with its constituents and in the absence of an environmental technical study." Several sectors have opposed the project where island structures will be built across Dumaguete’s shorelines from Barangays Bantayan to Banilad.
The Silliman University has recently launched an online petition to stop the project.
With the project drawing heavy opposition, Dumaguete City Vice Mayor Karissa Tolentino-Maxino assured Dumagueteños that there will be a public consultation.
Feasibility studies, geographical investigations, and environmental impact assessments will be conducted for the project to push through, Tolentino-Maxino said.