AN OFFICIAL from the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) bared that the Samal Island-Davao City Connector Project (Davao-Samal Bridge) is still pushing through, but there is still no definite date on its groundbreaking.
“The construction of the Samal Island-Davao [City] Connector Project is on stream, and currently the loan negotiation with the government of People's Republic of China and the government of the Philippines is ongoing,” Neda-Davao Director Maria Lourdes Lim said during the Davao Regional Development Council Week Virtual Culmination Forum on Thursday afternoon, September 30.
The loan negotiation, she said, is currently under the Department of Finance (DOF).
She said the preparatory activities before construction are in the form of the formulation of the parcellary plan and resettlement action plan.
She said the road-right-of-way acquisition is ongoing, while notice of taking had been issued to affected lot owners in Davao City since June this year.
As to the groundbreaking, Lim said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the project's implementing agency, will be the ones who will announce the groundbreaking date.
"We'll just wait for the announcement from DPWH as the implementing agency. But right now we can say this is still on stream," Lim said.
Lim said one of the project's challenges is in the procurement process because it involves foreign contractors.
Since the project is funded by loan from China, there will be a process of selection for contractors that will pursue in the implementation of the project.
She added that three Chinese construction companies will be selected and will further undergo evaluation. The selection will follow through after the loan negotiation.
Samal Mayor Al David Uy, who previously called out DPWH for the delay of the bridge’s construction, also confirmed in a radio interview that the loan agreement is currently being settled by DOF.
"Ang ginahulat na lang nila ang (We are waiting for the) notice to proceed kay ang (because the) loan agreement, naipit sa (is still at) China," Uy said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio on September 23. He said DPWH can apply for an exemption.
Uy also revealed that DPWH already selected a bidder for the project.
The mayor also said the project will not be affected by the election ban in January 2022.
The Davao-Samal Bridge is among the big-ticket projects that the present administration has in the pipeline.
The SIDC is a two-way four-lane 3.86-kilometer bridge with the main bridge having a length of 1.62-km long. According to the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, the SIDC "will be designed in a cable-stayed structure with the twin towers and double cable planes. The construction duration is estimated to last 60 months."
On January 14, 2021, the Philippine and Chinese governments signed a commercial contract for China to finance around $400 million for the SIDC. The two governments began loan agreement negotiations following the signing of the commercial contract.
According to a press statement of the Chinese Embassy in January 2021, “The project is expected to break ground in the first half of 2021.”
Uy said in a previous radio interview that the groundbreaking was projected to commence in January this year, according to Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar.
DPWH and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) signed the P19.32 billion official contract, which marks the green light for the design and build of theDavao-Samal Bridge Project.
DPWH said the China-funded project is envisioned as a modern bridge that will connect the Samal Circumferential Road in Barangay Limao, Island Garden City of Samal to Davao City in between R. Castillo-Daang Maharlika junction.
Data from Neda also showed that the project will have vertical clearance of 45 meters and can serve around 25,000 vehicles a day.
They also said the project will include the construction of interchanges with the existing road network, local existing junction improvements, viaducts over sections of land and approach bridges over marine areas.
"The project shall be implemented from 2020-2024, with construction period scheduled from 2021-2024. Operation will be from 2025 onwards," Neda said in a press statement.