Saturday, December 02, 2006 Calls swamp Citom on summit dry run By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter
MORE than 500 Cebu City policemen and traffic enforcers were prepared for yesterday’s dry run, but apparently, some motorists and commuters were not.
Telephones at the Cebu City Traffic Group office’s radio room rang incessantly while handheld radios assigned to police officials and traffic enforcers were in constant use.
Most of the time, the calls were from motorists and commuters who did not know which roads were closed, what time the roads will reopen and what alternative routes were available.
Some Cebu City residents also asked why there were road closures.
From the Police Regional Office’s tactical operations center, instructions on traffic control were relayed to the traffic group’s radio operators, who in turn relay the information to the personnel on the field.
Close to 300 policemen and 220 traffic enforcers were deployed in the city’s streets yesterday to direct traffic and road closures, but the number is still not enough, officials said.
On the computer monitors at the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) office, portions of the Cebu City map that were shown in red indicate the areas where traffic flow was heavy.
Ceremonial
Chief Insp. Jonathan Abella, chief of the Cebu City Traffic Group, noted heavy traffic on the roads traversing Juan Luna Ave. and the rest of the Asean summit ceremonial route during the dry run.
The ceremonial route was closed to vehicular traffic from exactly 7:40 a.m. to 9:20 a.m., and was closed again by 10 a.m.
“There was heavy traffic but it was expected and we were able to prepare for it. Policemen and enforcers were deployed even before the roads were closed. The challenge is how to lessen the traffic during the four-day summit,” Abella told Sun.Star Cebu.
He admitted that they need to improve on their information drive and to come up with more traffic advisories so the public will be properly guided.
To avoid getting caught in traffic and to minimize inconvenience, Abella also advised the public to plan ahead for their trips between Dec. 11 and 14.
Concerns
Radio operator Eric Laurente said the concerns phoned in yesterday were basically traffic related.
“A lot of people were still unprepared. They kept calling to ask which roads to take and what time these will be closed even if advisories already came in media,” he said.
Except for those assigned at the flyover near the Asiatown IT Park in Lahug, Abella said the policemen knew what to do during the dry run.
Cebu City Police Office Director Melvin Gayotin was heard over the communication radio asking why the detailed policemen and traffic enforcers in the area were not able to close the flyover to vehicular traffic when a delegation’s convoy passed by.
He instructed the traffic group to make sure that the policemen and the enforcers will be stationed in the same areas during the summit so they would know what to do by then and to avoid repeating the instructions.
Equipment
Citom executive director Arnel Tancinco said the number of enforcers during the dry run was not enough.
Road signs and communication equipment were also lacking and would need to be augmented during the summit.
“We had problems with the shortage on human resources. We were able to manage the traffic because it’s a holiday but during the summit, we will really need an augmentation force. We also need to improve on the communication and coordination with the traffic group,” Tancinco said in a phone interview.
