PALAYAN CITY – This once laid-back provincial
capital is looming as Nueva Ecija’s latest growth area with the unveiling of a
massive development plan that would see the building of a new city within the
city.
The
miniature new city concept is encapsulated in the estimated P2-billion
government center cum business hub, dubbed Palayan City Business Hub (PCBH) which construction is set to start anytime
this month and which will be completed in two years.
Mayor Adrianne
Mae Cuevas said that the growth area involves the 3.4-hectare site in Barangay
Singalat where not only a one-stop shop government center is envisioned to rise
but also multiple buildings, making the area a legitimate growth area similar
to the UP Techno Hub.
“Essentially,
this is similar to the UP Techno Hub,” said Cuevas, whose city government
donated the land to the provincial government for the PCBH.
The project,
considered the single biggest project by the provincial government under the
administration of Gov. Aurelio Umali, is adjacent to several structures already
in place such as the provincial Capitol and City Hall, the newly completed
onion cold storage plant, the provincial convention center, the Eduardo L.
Joson Memorial College and dormitory, a hotel, emergency hospital, police
station, state university and government offices.
Under the plan,
which will be undertaken by the Alloy MTD, the Malaysian conglomerate which is
a known infrastructure giant in a joint venture agreement with the provincial
government, four multi-story buildings
with a total area of 37,500 square meters will be set up, two of which are world-class
business process outsourcing (BPO) buildings with a total seating capacity of
2,500.
Both structures
will be equipped with high speed Internet connectivity, a major requirement by
call center companies.
Cuevas said a
three-story, 75-room hotel is integrated in the plan, considered the first
major commercial establishment in the city.
At the heart of
the project is the government center which will be occupied by national offices
that are moving from Cabanatuan to Palayan City, part of efforts to consolidate
all services, both national and local, in one location, to provide better
service to the people.
Cuevas said
apart from high-speed Internet connection, the project will be comparable to
buildings in Metro Manila with state-of-the-art air-conditioning facilities and
mechanical systems.
As a new city
within a city, the government center cum trade hub will house a 7,500-square
meter central plaza to serve as main activity center with a substation
connected to the Luzon grid, ensuring stable and sufficient power.
The provincial
government has secured a direct connection approval from the Energy Regulatory
Commission (ERC).
Additionally,
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-powered standby generators will be installed as
base load support for the power requirements of the four multi-story buildings.
Cuevas said with
the project, the best is about to come in the city where up to 13,000 jobs will
be generated, of which 10,000 alone will involve call center agents.
Alloy MTD, which
operates in 13 countries including the Us and China, has been credited with
building world-class government centers patterned after Putrajaya, a planned
city and federal administrative center 25 kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur.
Made up of a
network of open spaces and wide boulevards, Putrajaya was constructed in 1995
as the biggest project in Malaysia and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia at
a cost of $8.1 billion.
