THE Mandaue City government has opened its one-stop shop for traditional jeepney drivers wanting to obtain special permits to resume operations.
The one-stop shop will run for only two days from Dec. 10-11, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex.
Personnel from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and Land Transportation Office (LTO) are on hand to assist applicants.
On its first day, the one-stop shop was able to grant a permit to resume operations to one Mandaue City driver who completed all the requirements.
Councilor Jimmy Lumapas, chairman of the City’s Committee on Transportation, urged other jeepney drivers to go to the one-stop shop, so they will no longer have to go to the offices of the LTFRB and LTO.
Lumapas said the drivers should bring their jeepney units to the one-stop shop so the LTFRB and LTO can check the required barriers in their jeepneys.
For drivers who still have unpaid traffic penalties, Lumapas said they will be provided with a provisional clearance that expires after six months.
Before the clearance expires, the drivers must pay their fines.
Agustin Apat, one of the jeepney drivers who visited the one-stop shop, told SunStar Cebu it was difficult to pay his pending fines amounting to P12,600 because he had been out of work for eight months.
He said he plans to pay the fines on installment as soon as he is able to ply his jeepney on its original Lapu-Lapu-Mandaue-SM City Cebu route.
In November when Lapu-Lapu City allowed traditional jeepney drivers to resume operations, Apat was able to run his jeepney through the Mepza-Basak-Marigondon route.
Lumapas said 66 traditional jeepney drivers have already obtained a Team (Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue) clearance and have undergone swab tests with negative results.
Their units with barriers are scheduled to be checked by the LTFRB and LTO as a final requirement to resume operations. / KFD