DPWH Chief Eyes Completion of NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 by Q1 2018

The leadership of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) expressed confidence that the Segment 10 of the North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link would be completed and operational by the first quarter of 2018.

DPWH Secretary Mark Villar made the statement during the inspection of the Segment 10 project, which he graced, along with Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) President Joey Lim, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade and Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Villar said that 72 percent of project is already finished. The NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 is one of the big-ticket projects under the “Build build build” Infrastructure plan.

In a statement, NLEX Corporation Senior Vice President for Tollways Development and Engineering Raul Ignacio said that they are eyeing to complete the project--which links McArthur Highway in Valenzuela City and C3 Road in Caloocan--by next year, “anticipating complete delivery of the remaining right-of-way (ROW) by end of this month.”

Villar revealed during the launch that they have created a Task Force intended to address ROW issues.

Through the efforts of the DPWH ROW Task Force, the local governments of Valenzuela and Caloocan City, and the Philippine National Railways (PNR), the Poblacion Public Market in Caloocan and Tullahan River-San Francisco area in Valenzuela were cleared.

Further, Villar also said that his agency it will adopt "geotagging technology" to enhance transparency and accountability in project implementation.

Villar announced the infra-track app following his inspection of NLEX Harbor Link Project.

"Soon, DPWH project and monitoring engineers of Regional and District Engineering Offices nationwide will be required to capture and submit geotagged photographs of projects before, during, and after construction activities," Villar said.

Photos captured using cameras or devices with built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) shall be useful in ensuring that projects are in the right location and, more importantly, will serve as evidence of the physical progress of projects.

"With the Infra-Track App, we are guaranteed that, indeed, projects are being implemented in a particular area and we do not waste public funds for unfinished works, more so to non-existent projects," Villar explained.