A broken windshield caused by a falling debris at the SRP viaduct. | Photo courtesy of Kris Mangayon
CEBU CITY, Philippine — Damaged windshields and thousands spent in the repair of such prompted an individual to appeal to the Cebu City government to investigate the construction work being done of a bridge over the South Road Properties (SRP) viaduct.
Kristy Mangaron posted on social media on October 13, 2020, a photo of her damaged windshield after a metal pipe allegedly came out of nowhere and hit it while traversing the viaduct. She did not immediately report the incident because she was pregnant at that time.
In her text message to CDN Digital, she was also unsure where the debris came from. At first, she thought it flew from a truck at least 200 meters away from her, but she said the direction of the fall came from above.
To her surprise, another individual named Marichu Tiu, also posted a similar incident on November 2, 2020, nearly a month apart.
In the photos posted by Tiu, a heavy metal object fell on the hood of her car, causing damages to the right side portion of her car.
Mangaron appealed to the city government to investigate why such incidents are occuring at the SRP, as this is a major threat to the safety of motorists.
She also plans to file a complaint about the incident after undergoing an operation.
“I am recovering and ready to file for a complaint. We need help to further investigate and help save the lives of innocent people because they (construction company) denied the objects,” said Mangaron in a text message.
She clarified that she is not in for the money, only for the putting up of safety features in the construction to prevent further incidents.
‘Safety is our priotory’
In a statement, the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC), the construction company building the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) denied that the debris came from its construction work.
“We do not work using these parts. We have also put safety nets in applicable areas of the construction. On top of that, housekeeping is strictly being observed every shift and activity at the site,” said CCLEC.
The CCLEC assured that the construction of the bridge follows all safety precautions and the viaduct is safe for passing motorists from any debris coming from their construction site.
Read: CCLEX project progress now at 61 percent
“With several safety officers and experts fielded on site, we would like to assuage the worries of the public and assure that safety is our priority,” the CCLEC statement read.
/bmjo