Right-of-way issues delay P1.5-B Quezon road project

LUCENA CITY—The P1.5-billion ecotourism road project now under construction in the province continues to be hounded by right-of-way problems, according to a local official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“We’re exerting all our best to settle the issue with the landowners,” Celestial Flancia, district engineer of the DPWH-2nd Engineering District, said in an interview on Monday.

Flancia said 6.74 kilometers of the 24.7-kilometer road project is unfinished due to right-of-way issues.

The DPWH is still conducting an inventory of the total number of affected landowners.

Flancia said she is tapping the help of local government units to help iron out right-of-way issues.

The project, which would include five bridges, was started in 2006 and was supposed to be completed last year.

Flancia said DPWH employees tasked with working on right-of-way issues often encounter problems like land titles being transferred to other persons or being subjects of court cases.