Aduana restoration pushed THE Department of Finance (DOF) has set in motion the plan to restore and renovate the Iloilo Customs House or Aduana. Ernelito Aquino, Bureau of Customs (BOC) District 6 collector, said he will know the details of the plan later this month. “I am sure that they will inform me about that during the meeting of customs collectors this coming Sept. 26,” he added. In a press statement, Senate President Franklin Drilon said Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima informed him that the DOF has already identified an area which has potential to be part of the integrated development of the customs compound. The proposed development area includes the lots occupied by the Iloilo Customs House, the Freedom Grandstand, the Bureau of Fisheries and several eateries. Dubbed as the “Iloilo Heritage and Urban Renewal Project”, the Aduana project will be implemented under the public-private partnership mode. “The private sector shall be allowed to develop and operate the land and heritage buildings for commercial uses in order to generate a return on their structures, while the government is able to specify conservation restrictions to the heritage buildings and area at no cost,” Purisima said. Purisima added that after the lease period, “all developments and improvements in the area will be transferred to the government.” The city government is presently finalizing plans to acquire the over 2,000 square-meter lot of Panay Railways (PRI) along Muelle Loney which is only a stone’s throw away from city hall. The PRI lot is the proposed site of the new Freedom Grandstand after it was reported that the BOC might reacquire the lot on which the old grandstand is located. PRI management has offered the lot to the city government on a rent-to-own basis at P10,000 in monthly rental. But Aquino said he believes that the existing Freedom Grandstand will remain in its place. “It has been traditionally used for the Dinagyang activities, which we would not wish to upset. Unless the city government itself decides to transfer the grandstand elsewhere,” Aquino said. /TDG
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 18:41:17 +0000
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