A TOTAL of 158 households and about 60 percent of Tagum City’s agricultural lands will be affected by the construction of the Mindanao Railway project starting February 2019, a government official said.

“So fina-finalize pa po kung gaano kalaki yung matatamaan nung bawat household (So we are still finalizing on how big the effect will be on each household),” Tagum City Planning and Development Office (CPDC) officer Arturo B. Manigo said.

Manigo added that their planning and development office has completed the ground and drone surveys at the project site.

“All of these (households) are private lands. It will cover about two barangays -– San Miguel and Mankilam,” Manigo said.

The affected households will be relocated in the same barangay.

Meanwhile, some agricultural lands that will be affected are coconut and banana plantations.

“Well, most of these areas are agriculture-classified, but we are always evaluating because the productivity of these areas had already decreased because these lands are not irrigated areas,” Manigo said.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the local government units (LGU) of Davao Region are set to sign a memorandum of agreement on November 28 for the right-of-way (ROW) for the project.

This will be followed by the signing of an agreement between China and the Philippines in December.

“Tagum is all ready for the implementation of the Mindanao Railway,” Manigo said.