Briones: Road clearing

Briones: Road clearing

I HAVE a suggestion for the Cebu City Government if it wants to make some extra money during these hard times.

I know things haven’t been easy for the City since lockdowns were imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at the end of March.

Many businesses were forced to shut down. For those with deep pockets, the move was temporary. But for those that were barely surviving before the pandemic, it was the end of the road.

Thousands of workers have lost their jobs as a result. Many remain unemployed. Finding new ones in the middle of a health crisis has proven to be difficult.

In June, the City Treasurer’s Office announced that it needed to collect P4.3 billion in taxes if it wanted to reach its projected tax collection for this year.

It goes without saying that the City needs to generate income that won’t affect the downtrodden.

So what is my proposition?

Well, you know I have this thing against traffic violators. Motorists who think sidewalks are extensions of their garages. Drivers who park their cars by the side of roads with the blinkers on thinking this would justify their inconveniencing everybody else.

Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the traffic has been back since the city’s quarantine community status was downgraded to general community quarantine on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020.

I walk to the office on P. del Rosario St. from Sambag 1 six days a week and I know what it’s like. The traffic, I mean.

So why doesn’t the City Transportation Office take advantage of the situation?

First of all, its employees don’t have to be exposed to people if they clamp or tow illegally parked vehicles. Risk of infection from Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is minimal. They just have to be extra careful. And they can start by clearing J. Urgello St.

Residents have been forced to live with an unfinished concreting project that was started in September last year. It’s less than a kilometer long. Trust me. I’ve walked the stretch from P. del Rosario Ext. to the border with Sambag 2 near the Sacred Heart Hospital.

It’s not fair to blame the contractor which looked like it was about to complete the project when work had to be stopped because of the pandemic.

That’s not my beef, though.

Some residents have taken advantage of the situation by parking their vehicles on the narrow two-lane road, while one-way streets in the area suddenly have become two-way.

This blatant disregard for traffic rules means pedestrians like me have to watch my back for cars or motorcycles while I walk around vehicles that occupy a whole lane.

If I remember correctly, the City charges P1,000 for every clamped car and an extra P40,000 if the clamp is damaged. The penalty is the same for towed vehicles.

How about it?

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