THE City Hall technical working committee for the Mindanao Railway project will revisit the national government’s technical plans for the project, in particular, the Villanueva to Laguindingan routes, the city’s traffic czar said on Monday.
“(The highlight of last Wednesday’s meeting) was our agreement to invite officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) to (inquire about the project’s technical plans). Specifically, we want to know the alignment covering the Villanueva to Laguindingan route of the Mindanao Railway project,” said Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) chief Engr. Nonito Oclarit Jr.
The technical working committee for the Mindanao Railway project is also doing double duty for the proposed Metro CDO Light Railway Transit (LRT) project, another program mentioned by Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy that is being pushed by the Department of Transportation (DOTR).
Mayor Uy said these two projects will impact significantly the city’s economy.
“We know that mass transportation is a major economic driver for a local government. For our part, we have to support this because it will benefit us (in the long run),” Mayor Uy said in Visayan during a recent episode of his radio program.
Oclarit confirmed that the technical working group will update Mayor Uy on their proposals for the two projects.
Oclarit also said they will also share with Mayor Uy a suggestion by Regional Director May Unchuan of the Department of Tourism (DOT-10) to use as a reference for the LRT project in Metro Manila for the Mindanao Railway project.
“She was one of the consultants (of the Davao leg of the) Mindanao Railway project and she suggested that we use it for benchmarking the Manila LRT project,” Oclarit said in Visayan.
During Mayor Uy’s meeting with Asst. Secretary Leonel Cray de Velez of the DOTR’s Planning and Project Development, it was confirmed that Cagayan de Oro City will serve as the main station for the Villanueva-Laguindingan route of the Mindanao Railway project.
Velez is scheduled to return to the city on the last week of April to receive the technical plans from City Hall for both the Mindanao Railway project and the Metro CDO Light Railway Transit project. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)
