Vol. XXI, No. 237 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Thursday, July 3, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
DAVAO CITY — The city’s business chamber, through the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Council, has proposed harnessing the Davao River as a transport channel to ease up vehicular traffic gridlock and boost tourism.
Simeon P. Marfori II, the council’s chairman and Davao business chamber president, said developing the Davao River as an alternative highway, if done correctly, would ease the city’s swelling roads and streets as well as give rise to floating restaurants and other tourism-related establishments along the riverbanks.
He said the idea may sound simple but it requires huge funding and the city government may not be keen on taking on the project by itself. But the chamber and other multi-sectoral groups are willing to help the city government look for funding to make the project a reality.
The multi-sectoral Davao River Conservation and Coordinating Committee has a pending plan to covert the five-kilometer stretch from the city’s main public market Bankerohan and nearby barangays into a commercial district.
Cristy G. Gallano, executive director of the committee, said they will first develop three kilometers as a pilot area for the commercial component of the Davao River rehabilitation plan, which will include a gondola, stalls and a string of restaurants. One proposal is to pattern the development after the floating restaurants in Loboc River in Loboc town, Bohol.
She said the project cost will run to millions of pesos, based on the estimates of the City Engineer’s Office of P1 million for every 100 meters developed. That’s about P50 million for only one side of the river if the committee will follow the master plan and Ms. Gallano said they intend to develop both banks which would double the amount to P100 million.
The whole rehabilitation of the Davao River will cost about P4 billion, including the flooding and drainage component, erosion; livelihood and relocation; and environmental impact. The committee is looking at the World Bank to finance the project. With that amount of money involved, the Davao River Committee is turning to the private sector for help. "We encourage the private sector to invest," she said.
She said the master plan includes a P25-million drainage plan and wastewater treatment facility project, which will address the effluence and wastes discharged from the restaurants and firms that will be built within the commercial district. — Joel B. Escovilla
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