THERE seems to be a bit of problem going around with the implementation of Davao City’s pay parking scheme.
Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) head Dionisio Abude said some government employees have raised concerns on how the pay parking scheme of the city is affecting their daily expenses.
“Gi-compute nila nga within a day, P80 ilang magasto. In one month, P1,600 ma-deduct sa ila sweldo (Based on their computation, they will spend P80 a day. Within a month, P1,600 will be deducted from their salary),” Abude said.
As they find ways to address this issue, CTTMO has suspended the inclusion of the vicinity of the City Hall of Davao in the parking zone. This covers from Bolton Street going to Chowking in San Pedro Street.
It is funny how among the first to complain are city government employees. The people who get their salaries from taxpayers. The people who work for the Dabawenyos.
While exemption for security and emergency vehicles are understandable, CTTMO cannot just put an exemption for city government employees. It would be unfair to the taxpayers who are also paying for the parking fees in the pay parking zones.
The reason that the parking fee is an added burden to their daily expenses is just laughable. As if the other people who are parking in these zones also see this as a burden of their own expenses.
If the CTTMO will put an exemption for city government employees, it might as well exempt everyone. However, the city can do something about this.
In a SunStar Davao report yesterday, Councilor Conrado Baluran suggested that there be a separate parking space for city government employees.
“Mangita ta og lugar nga pwede i-designate nga didto lang sila mag-park, pero walking distance lang siya (We will look for a designated parking place for government employees and it should be only a walking distance (from where the city hall)),” the councilor said on Wednesday, January 8.
Another solution to this is the establishment of a parking facility in the city. In the past couple of years, the city government has been looking for investors who would want to put up a parking facility. At present there is “The Special Incentive Package For Parking Space In Davao City” that seeks to invite investors who would want to put up a parking facility in the city.
CTTMO may also call on the councilors to amend the law that covers the pay parking zones.
The exemption of local government unit employees is an unfair move to the taxpayers who are also using the the pay parking zones. There are other means that they can explore to be fair with other people who are using the pay parking zones.