Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista assured Tuesday that the implementation of the government’s flagship projects to boost the country’s transportation sector is “still on time”.

He made the remark in a Malacañang briefing when asked on how project implementation delays are being addressed.

“Well, as we have discussed, may mga resolution naman so we are expecting that even with all these problems, we should be able to implement the projects still on time,” Bautista said.

“Yun ang objective talaga namin — to be able to implement this project on the newly established timetable,” he added.

According to Bautista, one of their biggest problems is the issue on “right-of-way” (ROW).

To resolve this issue, Bautista said they were ordered by the President to “coordinate with all government agencies.”

Bautista cited the inter-agency committee created under Administrative Order No. 19 issued by the President last year.

The body is called Inter-Agency Committee for ROW Activities for National Railway Projects.

This is composed of DOTr, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Solicitor General.

“[I]sa sa mga pinakamalaking problem ng infrastructure implementation right-of-way. Sa pamamagitan nang pagtutulungan ng lahat ng mga departments, we should be able to resolve these issues,” Bautista said.

Most of the projects being implemented started during the previous administrations when issues already existed and needed resolutions. | PND