By Ervince Apatan
CLAIMS: The Samal Island-Davao CIty (SIDC) Bridge is nearing completion this year. That is according to a Facebook reel recently posted a Davao City resident, Reljun Orayan, claimed the Bridge is nearing its completion as he pictured the craneway bridge from a resort near the construction site for the bridge.
Meanwhile, another vlogger, RPV Moto Travelvlog, posted a video on the updates of the ongoing bridge, claiming that the Chinese contractors will complete the bridge in two years.
Rating: FALSE
FACTS: As of June 2024, the Samal Island-Davao City connector bridge is still at 4.197% completion rate, according to Engineer Rodrigo Delos Reyes, project director Bridge Management Cluster of DPWH.
The visible steel bridge that can be seen on the videos is only the craneway for the construction activities and is not the actual bridge for the project.
Even though there are visible developments in the area such as the construction of the craneway bridge, the project is planned to be completed in 2028, not in 2026.
Since its groundbreaking ceremony last September 2022, the project has encountered several delays due to the right-of-way (ROW) issues, in particular the landowners affected by the bridge such as the Rodriguez-Lucas Clan.
Aside from the ROW issues, the project was delayed as environmentalists sought government agencies to intervene and called for the realignment of the bridge due to its threat for the Paradise reef, which hosts many marine wildlife.
However, the construction of the bridge is still being pushed through despite these issues. According to Engr. Delos Reyes, the target completion for the bridge is in September 2028, which has been moved from the early target of 2027 due to the encountered delays.
davao city, samal
