JOINT SURVEY OF CITY PUBLIC MARKET TO BE UNDERTAKEN

10 June 2021 – Technical personnel of the local government and SM Primeholdings will be conducting a joint survey in the city public market to ascertain the metes and bounds of the areas that will be developed through the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

The conduct of the joint survey was the initial agreement that was reached by the members of the negotiation teams of both parties during the initial negotiation stage for the proposed development of the city public market held at the city hall multipurpose hall recently.

The city’s technical team will be spearheaded by personnel of the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) while SM Primeholdings will be represented by their engineers and architects to ensure the completion of the required survey pan that will serve as the basis for the detailed project plans and specifications of the overall project.

Under the proposal of SM Primeholdings that was used to acquire the Original Proponent Status (Ops) for the proposed development of the city public market, it plans to utilize some over 30,400 square meters of the city-owned property for the realization of the P5.4 billion development project while based on the 34-point negotiation terms that was crafted by the city for the said purpose, only 29,000 square meters had been identified for possible development within the city public market area.

Based on the timetable for the realization of the city market development project, members of the city’s Public-Private Partnership for the People – Selection Committee (P4-SC) and their counterparts from SM Primeholdings have at least 45 days to complete the negotiation process for the final terms of reference for the project that will subsequently be subjected to the famed Swiss Challenge where companies that are interested to implement the rehabilitation and upgrading of the facility will try to submit a better offer to be able to win the hearts of city officials who will decide on which among the companies will have a superior offer compared to the OPS awardee.

Supposedly, the negotiation process between the local government and the company that was awarded the OPS was scheduled to start last month but the same was rescheduled after the National Capital Region (NCR) plus bubble was placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) where stricter regulations on the movement of people were imposed.

The negotiation process will resume in two weeks after the concerned technical personnel of both parties shall have completed the required survey plan of the city public market that will identify the areas that will be offered to the proponent of the project that will be able to submit the more superior offer for the city during the aforesaid tedious process enshrined under the city’s P4 ordinance.

One of the present administration’s 16-point development agenda for the city is the modernization of the public market that will serve as an added attraction being the city’s show window.

Initial, there were two prestigious companies that submitted their respective proposals for the development of the city public market but SM Prime holdings were able to obtain the OPS from the local government after the evaluation and assessment that were conducted by the members of the P4-SC committee on the aforesaid proposals. – Dexter A. See