City Mayor Sara Duterte has urged the concerned agencies to fast-track the documents needed for the proposed P23.22 billion Davao-Samal Bridge.
The Mayor, in her State of the City Address (SOCA) yesterday, called on the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the City Council to hasten action on the Samal Island-Davao City Connector Bridge.
“I am calling on NEDA Sec. (Ernesto) Pernia to help us in the Davao-Samal Bridge project because our documents are still in the NEDA Central Office,” Duterte said yesterday.
“The plans for the Davao-Samal bridge are on the final stages,” said Duterte in her one-hour-and-15-minute speech.
Duterte, earlier this year, joked that she will commit suicide if Davao-Samal Bridge project is not completed by 2022.
“Consul Li Lin, we will not have to hang ourselves anymore because this will be started,” she said, referring to the Chinese consul who was in attendance during the SOCA.
She urged the City Council to support the project through issuing the necessary permits.
“We encourage everyone to support this project and for the Sanggunian and the relevant departments of the City Government to issue the necessary documents and permits, subject to thorough reviews,” she added.
Last week, the City Council passed on first reading the request of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for a resolution imposing no objection of the Davao-Samal Bridge.
DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain said the resolution from the City Council will aide in the upcoming activities including facilitating the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
The Davao-Samal bridge, according to the Mayor, is part of the three major projects that she eyes to be completed within her term in 2022. The two others include the High Priority Bus System and the Waste to Energy Facility, which the mayor said the documents are still within the national offices.
According to the DPWH, the proposed bridge runs approximately three kilometers in total length connecting this city (in Barangay Vicente Hizon Sr., Buhangin District) and Samal Island (either in Barangay Limao or Barangay Caliclic in the Island Garden City of Samal, a fourth-class component city of Davao del Norte).
