LA TRINIDAD, Benguet Provincial and municipal officials want the Baguio City government to reconsider the implementation of some traffic schemes that caused the transfer of the staging areas of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) plying the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) routes that resulted to inconveniences among the commuting public, especially with the prevailing difficulty in accessing mass public transportation.
In an interview aired over RPN-DZBS 1368 kHz, Boardmember Nestor Fongwan, Jr. said that the sudden transfer of the staging areas of La Trinidad and Tublay-bound jeepneys from the Rabbit sinkhole to Slaughterhouse Compound, the Itogon-bound jeeps from Lakandula to Marcoville and Sablan-bound jeeps from Kayang St. to the Cooyeesan area during the prevailing crisis situation is wrongly timed and uncalled for because the committing public is bound to suffer from the problems created by the said relocation of staging areas.
He pointed out that if the Baguio City government is inclined to implement the transfer of the staging and parking areas of LISTT-bound jeeps, it should be done later and in consultation with the concerned stakeholders in the LISTT in the spirit of the overall concept of the BLISTT.
“We are advocating for the establishment of the BLISTT but it seems that some of the actions of Baguio City Officials do not conform to the supposed policy in promoting the welfare of the people living in the said area,” Boardmember Fongwan stressed.
He underscored that because of the limited jeeps from the LISTT that were allowed to enter Baguio City, people going in and out of the LISTT areas have been suffering from the difficulty of availing of the public transportation that caused them to be always late in their work and appointments.
Further, Fongwan claimed that people carrying heavy baggage had to walk for a few kilometers just to reach their parking and staging areas and in going to their work and appointments because of the relocation of the jeepney pick up points that is why it is an added burden to them, especially that the available public transportation is still limited following the transition from modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) to the new normal situation.
According to him, it is unfortunate that people from the LISTT are being made to suffer the consequences of the Baguio traffic schemes that are being implemented that is why it will be better for Benguet people not to go to the city if they have nothing important to do because they might suffer the difficulty of having to look for transportation.
Fongwan explained that the direction of the programs, projects and activities of BLISTT local governments is for the welfare of the people living in the said areas and not for the welfare of the constituency of a local government because it will defeat the purpose of establishing the BLISTT.
He disclosed that provincial and municipal officials will try to bring the matter to the attention of Baguio City officials in a number of consultations that will be organized so that whatever will be the issues and concerns will be settled and will be for the benefit of the BLISTT constituency.
The local legislator is keeping his fingers crossed that Baguio City officials will be open-minded on the matter because the welfare of the BLISTT constituency is what is at stake.
By Hent
Photo by ARMANDO BOLISLIS
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