Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Chamber head scoffs at airport commercialism
THE Davao International Airport is one big commercial space, and yet the public, which it is supposed to serve, is not getting much from it.
In Monday's Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao's Cafe Rysus, Simeon Marfori, president of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Incorporated, said the whole structure is filled with commercial posters, cluttering up every available space.
"There was even an announcement that the space hanging from the ceiling is open for an ad space," Marfori said.
"The airport is a public building; can you just imagine a City Hall filled with posters?" Marfori asked.
Although the business chamber president has nothing against commercialization, he believes that it must only be allowed to a certain extent, but not "overwhelming".
"It is in an absolutely barok bad taste," Marfori exclaimed over the city's airport. "There has been no added value in the increase in terminal fees."
"It is a shame, we have defaced and cheapened it (the airport)," Marfori added.
Apart from waterless water fountains and toilets that do not flush, Marfori also took notice of the luggage trolleys that have now defective tires. "I do not know if the tires are still circular in shape, maybe it is already oblong or rectangle as the trolleys are already wobbly," he added.
No less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have taken notice of the absence of toilet paper at the city's airport when she visited it sometime back. Other officials from the tourism and business sector have also been complaining about the poor state of the airport.
Of late, a concessionaire at the airport has complained about the proliferation of cockroaches and rodents in the restaurant area of the airport and the lack of action of the airport officials.
The airport authority, however, has kept mum about all these complaints, content with just saying that they remit all their earnings to the national office. (CPM)
