THE DEPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways XI revealed on Wednesday the detailed engineering design of the Samal Island Davao City Connector (SIDC) is already 97.97% completed.
However, DPWH XI spokesperson Dean Ortiz said the civil works are still at 3.515% as of Nov. 25, 2024.
Ortiz reported that the bored piling in the Samal site is already 100% complete, meaning 74 out of 74 were erected.
Meanwhile, on the Davao City side, 51 out of 110 bored piles have been completed, which is equivalent to 46.36% completion. The bored piling works started in May.
“All the remaining detailed engineering has already been approved following the Bureau of Design memorandum dated Nov. 4, while all revised parcellary plans were approved by the Bureau of Design memorandum on Nov. 5,” Ortiz said.
Pile cap construction on the Davao city side, which began on Sept. 12, is at 15.38%, or 4 out of 26 were completed for the construction of the land viaduct substructure.
Ortiz said the bored piles are meant for the viaduct, which is part of the bridge that is in the land. He added they have yet to start constructing the marine viaduct.
As for right-of-way acquisition, all 10 of 10 properties in Barangay Limao in Samal have already been settled. Meanwhile, for the 52 affected properties in the Davao side under negotiated sale, 36 are already paid while 16 are still in process.
“The coast is clear except for some ROW claims, concerns for Davao side, but for the Samal side clear na po tayo lahat,” he said.
For the expropriated properties in the Davao side, five in seven are already paid while for 50 affected structures, 12 are already paid while 38 are still in process (filed in concerned regional trial courts).
“We are slowly getting there since we cannot fully implement the project if we have not settled this right of way issues,” he said.
He stressed the target timeline to complete the negotiated claims is in the first quarter of 2025.
The construction of the temporary steel bridge or crane way, which serves as the passage of the equipment, has already been completed.
As for the environmental issues, Ortiz stressed they have been following the Department of Environment and Natural Resources recommendations and have implemented environmental safeguards to have minimal effects on the coral reefs.
“The DENR would not have issued us an Environmental Compliance Certificate kung halimbawa nakita nila talaga na delikado for the environment,” he stressed.
The official stressed there is an existing monitoring team to assess whether all safeguards such as catchment for debris from the diggings, are fully implemented.
The SIDC project began construction early this year, with the contract amount of P23.5-billion scheduled to be completed in September 2028.
