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CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga: Rep. Carmelo Lazatin (First
District) has criticized president/CEO Levy P. Laus on his plan to
build a Central Business District (CBD) in a 300-hectare area near
the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here.
Lazatin said that the proposed
CBD project would stand contrary to the pronouncement of President
Arroyo that Clark would make a major role in creating a best service
and logistics hub in Southeast Asia.
Lazatin’s criticism revolved in
the construction of high-rise buildings within a 300-hectare area,
which is just beside the 2,200-hectare Clark airport area.
In a statement, Laus stated that
the proposed construction of the business center near the airport
was a collective decision of CDC and the Bases Conversion and
Development Authority (BCDA) boards “knowing fully well that
experts advice was sought to determine best land use, appropriate
development plan and how to market an asset with multibillion-pesos
potentials. In short we applied business sense of equating cost to
benefit, but the good congressman is entitled to his own opinion and
we respect it.”
The CBD proposed project that
will cost P18 million for the project study alone has alarmed local
officials, civic groups and the business sector that believed it
could not be realize.
Lazatin said that Laus and other
CDC officials should first consult President Arroyo before
commissioning the project study.
Laus also explained that the
proposed CBD would not include construction of high-rise buildings
that is not allowed in areas close to an airport.
--Mark Louie P. Roxas
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