The Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) has asked the Manila city government to extend its eight-day moratorium on the city’s daytime truck ban.
CTAP, in a letter to Mayor Joseph Estrada dated May 20 which the mayor received on the same day, said the truck ban had led to “heavy congestion of container cargoes at the port premises”.
The truckers’ group said the congestion had reached a critical level because of the snail-paced withdrawal and return of container cargoes owing to the truck ban.
“In effect, the economic activity of the country was greatly affected,” CTAP said.
The group added that the eight-day moratorium that ended May 20 was not sufficient to clear the “surge of … container cargoes being stockpiled at the port area and neighboring container yard”.
CTAP noted the traffic condition in the city looked unchanged with or without the truck ban.
It added that “no less than the Metro Manila Development Authority also had the same observation” during the moratorium.
CTAP said it is safe to conclude that the traffic problem was not due to trucks passing through the city’s major streets, but the lack of “proper implementation of traffic rules and regulations as well as proper coordination with the respective stakeholders directly affected such as the truck operators”.
CTAP said it remains firm in its cooperation with the city of Manila to find a solution to the perennial traffic problem, and that it is agreeable to continue paying the P100 dispatch fee imposed by the city government, which was initially required under the eight-day moratorium. –– Roumina M. Pablo
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