LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—To rescind or not to rescind the Memorandum of Agreement ( MOA) between the JARCO Realty and Development Corporation and the Municipality of La Trinidad?
This is now the question between contending parties within the Sangguniang Bayan in separate interviews conducted by the karitoon.com recently.
Councilor Jerome Selmo said, “the mall and the trading post could not co-exist together.
Selmo, favoring that the JARCO-La Trinidad MOA be rescinded averred, a mall is a traffic magnet, so with the trading post, we will have a future traffic nightmare in La Trinidad.
We likewise have to know the sentiments of the people and the stakeholders who are affected with the project, he said.
The market (small businesses) would be affected with the entrance of the mall, according to Selmo, just look at the incidence where a big mall was built in Baguio City, this competed with local establishment owners.
If the constitution could be amended, then the MOA can be rescinded Selmo stressed, adding that the Board of Directors of JARCO has yet to ratify the MOA and as of now we have not yet received a copy of the ratification.
On the other hand, Councilor Tommy Chamos said, “why will we rescind the MOA? That’s the question”.
“ They can always raise issues, but we cannot yet discuss issues that hasn’t been raised” Chamos stressed.
Under the law, the property (to be leased by JARCO) is municipal owned, he said, adding, there is no need for public hearings or consultations.
Do you need to conduct public hearing when you come up with a new municipal hall or a new market? Chamos argued.
“We are also elected, we are also thinking about the future, we are thinking of ourselves now, we are even braver, we ratified it (MOA) before elections and that can even be a point where candidates with out a platform of government can use against us (in the upcoming local elections)”, Chamos stated.
“We approved it (MOA) because we believe it is good for the people”, he stressed, adding “we are dumb councilors if we are coming out with something that we do not believe is right, it was a two year preparation. it is not on the spur of the moment discussion”.
In fact, the mall will be a great advantage to the people of La Trinidad and the municipality, he said.
Chamos explained that the mall will be generating income for the municipality as the area for the mall is presently only being utilized as a parking area.
With the mall, a lot of new jobs can now be generated to employ citizens of La Trinidad who are presently unemployed, he said, adding with the mall, residents of La Trinidad need not go to Baguio City.
We have nothing to gain and everything to loose as politicians as we have ratified the MOA just months before elections, Chamos averred.
The Sangguiniang Bayan of La Trinidad has recently ratified the Memorandum of Agreement between Mayor Artemio Galwan and the JARCO Realty and Development Corporation for the construction of a three-story building under the a Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) scheme.
Under contract JARCO will develop a 3,910 sq. m. lot currently utilized by the municipal government as a pay parking area. The projected cost of the three storey building is around P268,000,000.
The project has been duly approved by the Sanguniang Bayan of the Municpality in its resolutions numbered 25-2008, 192-2008, 199-2008 and 149-2009.—larry madarang
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