LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government recently allowed a certain number of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) in various routes in the 16 barangays to serve the transportation requirements of residents going in and out of Baguio city for essential needs.
However, Mayor Romeo K. Salda stated that the municipality remains on total lockdown on Sundays as part of the efforts of the municipal government to prevent the continued spread of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the municipality.
He claimed the decision to allow certain jeepneys to resume their operations is to serve the transportation needs of people from the different barangays going to Baguio City for essential needs, such as going to mass, among others, was approved by the members of the municipal inter-agency task force for the management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases after concerned residents and jeepneys operators and drivers petitioned the municipal government to allow the operation of the jeepneys in the locality on Sundays.
The municipal chief executive assured that jeepneys drivers and operators were reminded to ensure basic health protocols are observed by the passengers to avoid any untoward incident from causing the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the municipality. “We understand the plight of our constituents who are going out of their homes on Sundays to attend to essential needs that is why we agreed to allow certain number of jeepneys to operate on the said day to transport people, especially those who are going to Baguio,” mayor Salda stressed.
According to him, the municipal traffic and transportation management task force is currently assessing the traffic situation in the municipality so that appropriate adjustments could be made to increase the number of jeepneys plying the different routes inside and outside the capital town so as not to burden the public who are still suffering from the serious negative impact of the community quarantine.
He claimed that the different jeepneys associations plying the different routes in the various barangays agreed to schedule among their members the schedule of operations so that the operators and drivers will have a chance to earn income for their families.
Mayor Salda admitted that the ongoing traffic schemes in the municipality are subject to assessment and evaluation by the concerned offices in partnership with other regional line agencies to ensure there will be a smooth flow of traffic in the municipality and contribute in efforts to reduce the inconvenience being encountered by the motorists and the commuting public.
The municipal mayor added that the municipal government will make the needed representations with the Baguio city government to allow the increase in the number of jeepneys that will enter the city proper to ferry passengers from the municipality to avoid the long queues in the existing loading and unloading area at the Rabbit sinkhole every afternoon.
He asserted that city officials should understand the predicament of the residents from the municipality who have to wait for several hours in the long queues for them to be able to reach their homes where such waiting might expose them to contracting the deadly virus and transmit the same in their communities. By HENT
