Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Ban-Tal lot owners ‘in limbo’ By Rene H. Martel Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE clock is ticking for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to secure entry permits from lot owners to widen the road, so the contractor can stay on its schedule in building the Banilad flyover.
But if last Monday’s meeting was any indicator, the property owners are “in limbo and confused” because the DPWH has not contacted them since sending a letter last February that their lots will be used.
Sun.Star Cebu tried calling lawyer Agustinito Hermoso, DPWH 7 legal counsel, but he said he was in a meeting in Manila and will take questions only upon his return today.
City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem said the owners were gathered in a meeting by the City Council monitoring team led by City Councilor Hilario Davide III last Monday morning.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama was also present. He suggested for the lot owners to appoint a spokesperson who will speak in their behalf so their concerns could also be immediately heard.
Conditions
Jakosalem told Sun.Star Cebu that of 20 lot owners, nine, who possessed majority of the affected 7,400-square-meter lots, showed up.
They wanted the DPWH to apprise them about the negotiation, as many have conditions that should be met before they will agree for the contractor to use their properties.
“They are in limbo as to what is the latest thing. Up to now, they have not even received yet the technical description of what portion of their lots the DPWH wanted to get,” Jakosalem said.
“They are in the dark at this stage. They were even confused after one saw the video of the session where DPWH said that 98 percent of the lot owners already agreed on the use of their lots,” he added.
Council sessions are broadcast over local television channel Bee TV, which City Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa owns.
Jakosalem said that the Sulpicio-Go family, in particular, had made it known that the DPWH should first build a new fence.
That will protect their home before the existing fence affected by the proposed road widening in relation to the flyover construction is torn down.
Most of the lot owners do not approve of the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s zonal valuation of P15,500 per square meter that the DPWH offered, wanting to sell their properties at P20,000 to P30,000 per square meter.
The DPWH has negotiated for the owners to just agree to sign contracts for the sale of their properties for P15,500 per square meter “under protest.”
Christoffer Semilla, WTG Construction and Development Corp. project engineer, told the Cebu City Council last May 14 that the DPWH has to clear critical lots that will
be used for the road-widening within the month.
He said that unless the lots are cleared, the road could not be widened and they could not build one abutment, one span and one approach of the flyover.
WTG can only proceed if it will totally close the road, which it will not do and the City Government will not allow.
Jakosalem said yesterday that the WTG has to find a way so it could meet its self-imposed deadline of finishing the project by the end of July.
WTG started building the 390-meter flyover last Feb. 1 and expected to finish it in six months, or four months ahead of the contracted period of 10 months.
The facility is intended to ease worsening traffic in the Banilad-Talamban area, particularly along Gov. Manuel Cuenco Ave.
