The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has formed a task force that will specifically handle right-of-way (ROW) acquisition to minimize delay in project implementation.
Public Works Secretary Mark Villar signed Department Order 203, Series of 2016, which created the Unified Project Management Office Right-of-Way (Upmo-ROW) Task Force, which is tasked to monitor ROW issues that affect the implementation of Upmo road, bridge and flood-control projects nationwide.
The group will be headed by DPWH Undersecretary for UPMO Operations Emil K. Sadain, with Legal Service Director Estrella T. Decena-Zaldivar as vice chairman and UPMO Cluster directors as members.
Aside from monitoring the ROW acquisition status, the group will also recommend actions for ROW issues.
Villar said that, with the creation of the new task force, the processing of ROW claims for Upmo projects will speed up, resulting to a more effective and expeditious completion of urgent infrastructure.
At the same time, a technical working group, to be composed of representatives of Upmo Cluster directors, will be created to support the task force.
The group will be responsible for the screening and verification of documents submitted for ROW claims, as well as the accuracy of the computation of land valuations and disturbance compensation.