BIZ BUZZ: Monterrazas gets some breathing room

After facing questions over whether its mountainside development was worsening floods in Cebu City, Mont Property Group has gotten some breathing room.

A Cebu City technical committee has recommended allowing the 118-hectare Monterrazas de Cebu project to continue after an inspection found its water-retention systems operational—and well beyond design requirements.

But the findings did not completely absolve Monterrazas. The committee said it could not conclude that the project was “solely or directly responsible” for flooding, while also noting that the report did not establish that it had no direct or indirect contribution.

Instead, the technical team pointed to broader drainage problems, including neighboring developments without retention ponds, mismatched culvert sizes and an altered downstream drainage alignment.

Mont Property Group welcomed the findings and pledged to continue working with the city government and nearby communities on flood mitigation.

For Monterrazas, the findings may clear an important hurdle. For Cebu’s flooding problem, however, the technical panel’s conclusion suggests the solution extends well beyond the boundaries of one development.

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