The agency said in a statement the MRT Line 7 project, which runs 22 kilometers from North Ave. in Quezon City to San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, was 49.15-percent into completion as of October 2019.
It said MRT-7’s 20-hectare depot started to take shape after the writs of possession issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 92 and 98 in favor of DOTr and concessionaire SMC Mass Rail Transit 7 Inc. were successfully enforced by sheriffs of the two courts. Works on the depot formally started on Nov. 26.
The DOTr and SMRT7 identified the new depot site along Quirino Highway in Barangay Lagro, Quezon City, which was found optimal for right-of-way implementability, asset constructibility, capital expenditure and operational expense efficiency and operational reliability and maintainability.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade approved the depot site during an inspection on June 29, 2019.
“The start of depot works signifies much more than a dot in the timeline of the project. It shows us that when the judiciary works hand in hand with the executive department, we are able to pick up speed in delivering infrastructure development to the Filipino people,” Tugade said.
Pursuant to Republic Act No. 10752 or the new Right-of-Way Act, the DOTr offered to buy the depot site from a major real estate development company at current market value, as appraised by an independent property appraiser accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The property owners refused the DOTr’s current market value offer, forcing the DOTr and SMRT7, in coordination with the Office of the Solicitor General, to file expropriation cases on Nov. 15. The QC RTC Branches 92 and 98 issued writs of possession in favor of the DOTr and SMRT7 on Nov. 22 and Nov. 25, respectively.
A writ of possession is a writ of execution employed to enforce a judgment to recover the possession of land. It commands the sheriff to enter the land and give its possession to the party entitled under the judgment.
The P69.3-billion MRT 7 project, which will have 14 stations, is being built by SMC Mass Rail Transit 7 Inc. under SMC’s infrastructure subsidiary San Miguel Holdings Inc.
San Miguel tapped Hyundai Rotem and EEI consortium to build the railway line which will have stations at North Ave., Quezon Memorial Circle, University Avenue, Tandang Sora, Don Antonio, Batasan, Manggahan, Doña Carmen, Regalado, Mindanao Avenue, Quirino, Sacred Heart, Tala and San Jose del Monte.
Once completed by 2021, the 22-kilometer rail line will reduce travel time between Quezon City and San Jose del Monte City from two to three hours to only 35 minutes.
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