Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Owners hit Banilad lots valuation
ALTHOUGH almost all owners of properties affected by the side road expansion for the flyover being built in Barangay Banilad have agreed to sell their lots, they found the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) valuation of P15,500 per square meter to be low.
“Nanugot sila nga gamiton ang ilang properties. But considering that they were not satisfied with the amount (per square meter), they agreed under protest. They will go to court for just compensation,” said DPWH 7 Legal Officer Agustinito Hermoso.
He said the owners have agreed to let DPWH use their lots, so the flyover and the side road projects will not be delayed.
DPWH is following the P15,500 per square meter BIR zonal valuation of properties along Gov. Cuenco near the Banilad Town Centre.
From 3,450 to P15,500 per square meter, the valuation even caught the DPWH 7 by surprise since it was a 350-percent increase in the zonal value of properties in Banilad last October.
Delay
It would have caused a delay in the expansion of the road leading to the Mahiga Bridge and the Foodland complex if not for Rep. Raul del Mar’s (Cebu City, north) intervention.
The expansion complements the 390-meter, P86.9-million flyover, which will span Gov. Mariano Cuenco Ave. from the vicinity of Mahiga Bridge (by the Gaisano Country Mall) beyond the A.S. Fortuna St. intersection.
Del Mar had asked House committee on appropriations chairman Edsel Lagman to have P50 million inserted in the country’s 2008 budget during the House and Senate conference committee hearings last January.
The DPWH 7 needed the amount for additional funding to pay for at least 7,400 square meters of private properties that will be used as road right-of-way.
Del Mar was told after both Senate and the Lower House had reconciled their budget versions that the money was already reflected in the budget submitted to President Arroyo for her signature.
Contracts
Hermoso said the contracts are already ready and that the lot owners just asked for time to have them checked by their respective lawyers before signing them so that payments can already be made.
But three percent of all lot owners have not responded yet to the DPWH’s offer, so the agency will be forced to file for expropriation proceedings this April, he said.
Hermoso also said that the contractor, WTG Construction and Development Corporation, told him that construction, which started last Feb. 1, is within schedule so that the flyover will be finished by July.
Construction entered its second phase last week and the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management closed to traffic the south-bound lanes of Gov. Mariano Cuenco Ave. by the A. S. Fortuna St. intersection starting last Wednesday.
Motorists and commuters were advised to brace for heavier traffic. (RHM)
