Tuesday, January 22, 2008 TMC crackdown yields 39 trisikads By Grace L. Plata
THE Traffic Management Center (TMC) confiscated a total of 39 trisikads since it started its crackdown on trisikads plying the city's main streets on January 7.
TMC chief Celco Gempesaw has been adamant about the strict implementation of the law prohibiting this alternative means of transportation in the main thoroughfares as they contribute to the heavy traffic flow.
"Kung sauna iuli namo ang trisikad after pagbayad sa fines sa tag-iya. Karun dili na. Kinahanglan istrikto na mi kay musamot ug ka-traffic (Unlike before when we return the confiscated units after the owner pays a fine, this time we will no longer be returning the units. We need to be strict on this because they are making traffic worse)," Gempesaw said in an earlier interview.
Gempesaw said the traffic situation is getting severe by the increasing number of vehicles in the city while there are no road expansions or new roads being constructed. Adding to this, the Governor Generoso Bridge 1 that used to be one of the main passages to the south has not yet been rebuilt.
"Ato gyud nga paningkamutan na dili ra kaayo congested ang mga kalsada especially nga naga-construct pa for the drainage system (We have to do our best to ease traffic especially now that there are many ongoing drainage projects)," he said.
Thus he calls on trisikad owners to constantly remind their drivers not to ply major thoroughfares and roads that are serviced by public utility vehicles.
"Cooperation lang among gipanagayo nga wala man sila gibawalan nga manginabuhi. Ayaw lang ug agi sa main streets (All we are asking for is cooperation. We are not prohibiting them from earning a living, we are only prohibiting them from using the main streets)," Gempesaw added.
