Sunday, August 17, 2008 Councilor eyes amendment to Kennon truck ban By Rimaliza Opiña
THE appeal of vegetable traders and provincial officials in Benguet for the Baguio City Government to allow passage of six-wheeler trucks through Kennon Road was heard, as moves are now underway to amend the ordinance that bans trucks within the jurisdiction of Baguio City.
Affirming earlier claims of the Benguet Provincial Government and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that not enough consultation was done with affected sectors before the ordinance was passed, Vice Mayor Daniel Fariñas said this can be resolved by amending certain provisions of Ordinance 43-2008.
"It is apparent that the measure lacked consultation with various government offices such as the DPWH and the Department of Agriculture (DA), as could be evidence by the frequency of requests for an exemption from the truck ban," Fariñas said in a proposed ordinance.
At the height of Typhoon Julian, when Paslispis-Aspiras (former Marcos) Highway was temporarily closed to traffic because a portion was washed out by rainwater, some vegetable delivery trucks tried to pass through Kennon Road or Nagulian Road.
Police, however, apprehended truck drivers who passed through Kennon. Their basis then was the recently signed ordinance.
The apprehension, however, resulted in a delay in the delivery of highland vegetables to Manila and other lowland provinces.
The City Government bans the passage of six-wheeler trucks through Kennon Road to preserve its ambience. The road is the shortest route leading to Baguio.
In Fariñas's proposal, six-wheeler public utility vehicles with franchises to ply the route from Baguio to Camp 1, heavy vehicles authorized to haul aggregates, boulders or concrete blocks and water delivery trucks, public and private delivery trucks carrying perishable goods and other motor vehicles exempted may be allowed to use Kennon Road.
For trucks loaded with aggregates, Fariñas also proposed that the alternate route through Loakan Road be used instead of the stretch of Kennon Road in Camp 8, and for haulers that load at Camps 1 to 5, to take Palispas-Aspiras Highway instead.
