NGCP to start relocating transmission lines along JASA

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO— The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines or NGCP will start relocating the Hermosa-Duhat 230kV transmission line along Jose Abad Santos Avenue (JASA) in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga this February 2018 despite unresolved right-of-way concerns.

In a statement to Sun.Star Pampanga on Tuesday, NGCP Regional Communications and Public Affairs Officer Ernest Lorenz B. Vidal, the relocation of the transmission line will

address the traffic and public safety hazards posed by power structures located by the roadside.

But Vidal disclosed that to date, seven of 18 affected land owners have yet to cooperate with the relocation project.

The NGCP informed the City Government of San Fernando in September 2017 of its intention to immediately mobilize for the relocation. The relocation, however, was postponed due to resistance from the land owners.

“We are appealing to the seven remaining landowners to cooperate, and the city government to assist NGCP in the immediate completion of the project. Public safety is NGCP’s utmost priority as a nation builder,” NGCP said in its statement .

Vidal furthered that in a recent meeting, City of San Fernando Mayor Edwin D. Santiago committed to assist NGCP in securing the seven land owners’ support to the project.

As early as 2016, NGCP has been in talks with stakeholders such as the City Government of San Fernando, Department of Public Works and Highways Region III, and the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. to find an amenable solution to relocation concerns.

Vidal in the statement noted the NGCP indicated its readiness to begin relocating as early as the first quarter of 2017, but could not proceed because of landowner demands.

He said that with the immediate cooperation of the remaining seven land owners, NGCP is optimistic that the project will finally be completed this year.

The bored piling and pole erection, and the transmission line stringing are estimated for completion within 120 and 180 calendar days, respectively.— JTD