Right of way, budget woes delay buildup of rail projects

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has warned of construction delays for the biggest rail projects in the Philippines if the acquisition of right-of-way (ROW) and the release of appropriate budgets are further held back.

In a presentation before the House of Representatives, the DOTr lamented the piling difficulties in putting up rail infrastructure, particularly the P873.62 billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) and P488.48-billion Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP).

In the southern portion of the NSCR, the DOTr said it has to relocate several assets managed by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System by the third quarter of the year, or else it will incur the government prolongation costs worth millions of pesos.

For this, the DOTr has requested the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel to intervene. The agency hopes that the intercession will facilitate the utility relocation.

In the Parañaque leg of the NSCR, the relocation site for residents affected by the project has yet to be equipped with utility services. This means it may take some time before the residents move, delaying civil works for the railway.

On top of this, the DOTr has yet to receive the special allotment release order (SARO) for ROW procurement, totaling P122.02 million, filed before the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on April 8.

For the MMSP, the DOTr is also waiting for the DBM to sign the SARO for P3.7 billion in funds that will be used for ROW acquisition.

Further, the DOTr has a pending request with the DBM, amounting to P1.45 billion, that will be allocated for ROW processing of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) Cavite Extension Project.

The first stretch of the LRT-1’s Cavite line is scheduled for operations toward the end of the year. That segment will extend all the way to Sucat, Parañaque City, adding five stops to the railway, namely, Redemptorist, MIA, Asia World, Ninoy Aquino and Dr. Santos.

However, the second phase of the expansion had to be realigned to make way for the C5-Quirino Flyover Project. As a result, the DOTr will remit P1.4 billion to the Light Rail Transit Authority for ROW acquisition in the new alignment.

The DOTr aims to train more personnel skilled in ROW procurement moving forward given that it is one of the most challenging aspects in delivering transport assets.

In spite of this, the agency is committed to complying with the targets of the government in completing its big-ticket railways.