THE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) is currently addressing different issues at the Davao International Airport (DIA) an environmentalist aired on his social media account earlier this month.
On Thursday evening, November 21, Facebook page Davao City Reports posted the photo of a letter from DIA manager Rex Obcena, replying to the city government after it received a complaint from ‘D Bone Collector Museum Director Darrell Blatchley on the different problems that was observed in the airport.
Davao City Reports is a complaint page managed by the City Information Office.
Blatchley posted on November 7 on his personal Facebook account that the current system of the airport arrival welcome is “not only dangerous, but an embarrassment to the great city”.
He cited the following: the areas do not have proper lighting, greeters are in constant danger of being ran over by taxis, the crowding groups into tight areas which brings danger to those in the airport, and no garbage cans can be seen in the area, resulting to some airport passengers throwing their garbage in the ground or in the planters.
He added that the “strictly no parking” is not properly enforced as it is being violated by “rich” vehicle owners.
Blatchley also said the flight information display located at the greeters’ area is not functioning.
“Is this the image Davao strives for? You can’t even see who is arriving?” he said on his post.
“You don’t even know what airline is arriving as there is no TV monitor to inform the public that a certain airline named after an island in the Philippines is running its usual two hour delayed time,” Blatchley added.
Caap’s response
Obcena, in an issued Caap letter, said they immediately took action on Blatchley’s complaint the following day.
He said the areas identified to have “insufficient lighting” were already provided with additional lighting fixtures.
“Although we contend that this should have been the responsibility of the concessionaire-operator of the vehicular parking area, DIA management saw to the provision of said lighting fixtures to immediately address the issue,” Obcena said.
He also said they are currently in the process of replacing all lightings of the airport to LED (light-emitting diode) lights, as mandated by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
He also said they hope to replace it by the first to second week of December this year.
The airport manager also said they will deploying Land Transportation Office (LTO)-deputized personnel from the Philippine National Police Regional Mobile Force Battalion-Davao Region to implement and manage the traffic situation of the area. Caap also formed a special security group for this purpose.
As to the lack of garbage bin around the vehicular parking area, Obcena said they cannot put up in these areas “for security reasons”, as it might be used to place explosive devices, which would be difficult to monitor.
Meanwhile, he also said they will be placing a temporary steel structure to provide shelters o the designated area as the proposal for the structure is still pending, as its design is still being finalized for submission as a requirement for funding.
Obcena also said the flight information display located at the greeters’ is currently undergoing repair. He said the system was affected due to the recent series of power outages.
SunStar Davao is still trying to reach out to Blatchey on Caap’s recent action.
However, Blatchley already commended Caap’s action after sharing the online post of City Tourism Operation Office (CTOO) head Generose Tecson, lauding Obcena for his office’s immediate response to the complaint. (RGL)