The Department of Public Works and Highways said Sunday it is open to resolving the dispute with developer Uneco Land Corp. which owns a 450-meter lot that is crucial for the completion of the Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange as a part of the Cavite Laguna Expressway project.
DPWH public-private partnership service director Alex Bote said, however, Uneco was asking for P50 million to P60 million in compensation for the right-of-way which was much higher than the P16-million appraisal by the agency.
“Per our latest estimate, it’s just P16 million,” Bote said.
He said if Uneco would insist on the P60-million compensation, the agency would have no problem with the value as long as it was approved by the court.
“We’re okay to bring this matter to the court. It should be placed under just compensation. The government will still pay for it, if the court decides that it’s really P60 million,” he said.
Bote said the DPWH requested the court to issue and reinstate the agency’s power of writ of possession while awaiting for the final compensation to Uneco.
MPCALA Holdings Inc., the builder and operator of the project, earlier said one critical portion for the completion of the CALAX Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange was the undelivered ROW of about 450 meters of land owned by Uneco.
The Silang (Aguinaldo) Interchange is the fifth of the eight segments of CALAX that spans 3.9 kilometers. The 2×2 lane interchange was 64.8-percent completed.
The ROW issue with Uneco prevented continuous works, including construction of drainage and bridge, excavation and roadway earthworks and installation of fence and coco net.
The pending legal issues moved the target date of the interchange’s opening several times, with the latest being December 2022.
“We’re still hoping that we can complete. For example, we can settle the issue within the month, definitely February or March of 2023. Aguinaldo [interchange] will be operational,” Bote said.
Once finished, the interchange will serve more motorists, including 298,000 Silang residents, given the reduced traffic situation. The average daily traffic from Mamplasan to Silang East Interchange is about 33,000 vehicles.
This is expected to increase to 40,000 when the Interchange opens, easing the usual bottleneck along the 41-km Aguinaldo Highway―the busiest main thoroughfare in Cavite―Governor’s Drive and Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road.
CALAX’s operational segment spans 14.24-km., with interchanges at Greenfield-Mamplasan, Laguna Technopark, Laguna Boulevard, Santa Rosa-Tagaytay and Silang East. Other interchanges―Open Canal, Governor’s Drive and Kawit, are targeted to be completed next year.
Upon completion of the entire PPP project of the DPWH and MPCALA Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., CALAX will connect to the Manila-Cavite Expressway in Kawit, Cavite.