Gov.
Erico Aumentado warns Panglao lot owners that will be affected by the construction
of the international airport in said town to be wary of unscrupulous individuals
floating the idea that the provincial government will be purchasing their lots
at P20 per square meter.
Jubilant
from his successful Jiangxi, China trip, the governor bared over dyRD's "Pulso"
that the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) finally released
P26.75 million through the provincial government's special trust account for the
initial lot acquisitions in barangays Bolod, Tawala, Lourdes and Danao for the
Panglao Bohol International Airport.
Another
P1 million was earlier received which is also part of the budgeted P175 million
needed to purchase around 200 hectares for the project, Aumentado said. | | | With
the released fund, DOTC assistant secretary Jose Torralba and the lot acquisition
team led by
provincial assessor Eduardo Orig and provincial attorney Handel Lagunay can now
proceed buying lots which was pegged by the Bureau of Internal Revenue's (BIR)
zonal valuation at P40 - P60 per sq.m.
Aumentado
warned lot owners of the wrong information being spread by either those who oppose
the project or opportunists who want to profit from buying lots at a much cheaper
price and selling the same to the government's airport developers.
The
governor stressed that the provincial government cannot go beyond the P60 zonal
valuation of the BIR. Those who refuse to sell their lots based on the amount
would compel Capitol to expropriate the lots in question. |
In
an earlier interview with the Chronicle, Torralba bared that 65-hectares have
been previously acquired during the time of former governors David Tirol and Rene
Relampagos.
However,
the purchased lots fell short after the orientation of the airport's runway was
changed from its original position. Only around 30-hectares can be utilized of
the acquired lots, Torralba said.
The
runway placement was changed to 32-degrees East due to wind orientation and after
there were some complaints from beach resort owners in the area which will be
directly under the glide spot of inbound planes.
However,
the previously acquired airport site not within the revised runway layout will
be used to barter for those affected residents who would still prefer to keep
lots near the airport.
Torralba
said the airport's satellite map and parcillary survey is already completed while
there have been suggestions to extend runway length to 3,500 meters from its original
length of 2,500 meters.
But
Torralba stressed the 2,500 meters will suffice with international airport standards
and could accommodate Boeing 747s and Airbus 320s - the bigger planes that airline
companies prefer as these are more cost effective.
Public
information and consultations were completed in the affected barangays, Torralba
concluded.
3-MONTH
SCHEDULE
Aumentado
wants the money released immediately to ready-for-payment lot owners so that the
committee led by Lagunay can start to process the next batch.
The
memorandum of agreement between Aumentado and the DOTC gives only three months
for site acquisition.
Since
the amount will not be sufficient, payments will be made on a first-come first-served
basis to those who have complied with the requirements, according to the governor's
chief of staff Romeo Teruel who chairs the Review and Development Committee of
the Panglao Tourism Estate. | 
