The groundbreaking that had been put on hold for countless number of times finally happened on Thursday and it took no less than the top executives of the land to ensure that the message is sent out loud–this “dream bridge” is happening.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte presided over the ceremony that broke ground the most anticipated infrastructure project in the region–the Samal Island-Davao City Connector Project (SIDC). It took two administrations to even get this ceremony done.
The next months and years will be spent waiting this “dream bridge” will get off the ground.
Prior to yesterday’s groundbreaking, the connector was taunted as mere “drawing”–the street lingo for anything equivalent to a figment of imagination. It took a while to even have the simple groundbreaking rites. lt had happened and is still bound to happen. There is the opposition to the bridge’s landing locations which is yet a legal issue to be settled.
Instead of being the “dream bridge” it is touted to be, this connector is becoming to be a namesake of a 1977 film entitled “A Bridge Too Far.”
A Bridge Too Far is an epic war film depicting Operation Market Garden, a failed Allied operation in Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II.
The film is based on a non-fiction book of the same name by historian Cornelius Ryan. The attack deep into German-occupied Holland began on Sunday, September 17 and lasted until September 25, when British forces surrendered and withdrew south across the Rhine River, abandoning the bridge.
The story of the SIDC is just as epic. It depicts of a long cherished dream nourished by residents of both cities not only for the ease of travel but also for the potential of spurring development in Davao City and Samal Island. But like any development projects, a price had to be paid. And this is where the oppositors of the project are pounding on like damage to the marine resources, and the contest on the landing area site.
The shoveling of the earth and the laying underground of its masterplan are but ceremonial, the biggest test would be the legal obstacles and the logistical requirements this project will have to contend with.
When the euphoria of the celebratory ceremony will have died down and the photographs forming part of history, will the bridge be too far?
