MANILA: The first contract package (CP101) of the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) is 40 percent complete and is on track for partial operations by 2029, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Thursday.
In a press conference following a site visit and launch of tunnel boring machine (TBM) 4 at the MMSP’s North Avenue Station, DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said the project’s on-time completion would mostly depend on resolving right-of-way (ROW) issues.
To date, he said some properties where stations are located are owned by private individuals, in addition to a Department of Education (DepEd) building that cannot be demolished due to its status as a heritage site.
‘Meron din issues like property owners na ayaw nila ‘yung MMSP dumaan sa ilalim ng kanilang property (There are also issues like property owners that protest against having the MMSP tunnel run under their property),’ Bautista said.
DOTr Undersecretary for Rails Jeremy Regino said while the ROW challenges of the MMSP is the ‘first of its k
ind and the largest in magnitude in Metro Manila,’ expropriation – or the government claiming a private property against the wishes of its owners – would allow for the project to proceed on time.
While expropriation is not ‘forced occupation’ but rather a ‘just compensation,’ Regino said the option is only the government’s last recourse should negotiations with the property owners arrive at an impasse.
Source: Philippines News Agency
