DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 08 October) — The approved final alignment of the multi-billion 3.98-kilometer Samal Island-Davao Connector (SIDC) project is a product of “comprehensive study by experts,” according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
In a statement released on Friday, the DPWH said the final alignment was designed with important consideration to the environment contrary to claims by the Rodriguez family that the study was hastily conducted by government’s consultant Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd. and that it lacked proper consultation with landowners.
The DPWH said it also considered the necessary navigational safety management for seacraft and height restriction for air transport.
The landing point of the bridge, also known as the Davao City-Samal Bridge, is situated on the coast of Costa Marina Beach Resort, which is adjacent to Paradise Island Park & Beach Resort in Barangay Caliclic, Babak District of the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS).
The Rodriguez family, which operates the resorts, said pursuing the current alignment would result in the irreversible to damage to the Paradise Reef, a 300-meter contiguous reef situated on the coast of the two adjacent resorts.
The DPWH said a “state-of-the-art modern technology in the construction of deep foundation for sea-crossing bridge” would be employed to prevent destruction to marine life.
It added that a geotechnical investigation plan prepared by design and build contractor China Road and Bridge Corporation indicates there will be a total of 97 boreholes – 63 for Davao onshore, 18 offshore, and 16 for Samal onshore.
Last June 13, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian exchanged with then Finance Secretary Dominguez the signed Framework Agreement and Loan Agreement worth $350 million or P18.67 billion for the bridge.
It added that all the necessary permits and requirements from local government units and national government agencies were obtained while the local governments of Island Garden City of Samal and Davao City did not oppose the current bridge alignment.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) issued an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) as early as December 2020.
He said the national government has created the Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT) and the establishment of Environmental Monitoring Fund (EMF) and Environmental Guarantee Fund (EGF), a requirement before ECC can be issued.
It said the EMF is a “fund that the proponent shall commit to establish to support the activities” monitoring team while the EGF will be “used exclusively for the immediate rehabilitation of areas affected by damages to the environment and the resulting deterioration of environmental quality as a direct consequence of project construction, operation and abandonment.”
It added that the fund is “for the contingency clean-up activities, environmental enhancement measures, damage prevention programs and social equity measures including the necessary information-education-communication and capability building activities related to the project.”
On October 5, the Rodriguez family questioned the lack of prior consultation, saying the present alignment “was chosen in a workshop in Manila without the participation of local landowners and stakeholders.”
They said the ECC for the SIDC Project was issued without a prior Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) clearance.
The DPWH claimed the PAMB issued a resolution in October 2020, “giving clearance or expression of support for the SIDC Project.”
The Rodriguez family, however, reiterated that contrary to DPWH’s claim that the Samal landing site is outside a protected area, the entire Samal Island remains a protected area and was, in fact, established as a Mangrove Swamp Forest Reserve under Proclamation No. 2152, an initial component of the National Integrated Protected Areas System. Proclamation 2152 was issued by then President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, father of the incumbent President, on December 29, 1981.
“The law requires an act of Congress to disestablish a protected area or modify its boundary. The DPWH has not come forward with any such evidence insofar as Samal Island is concerned,” the Rodriguez family said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/ MindaNews)
0 Comments