METRO Manila Development Authority officials are mapping out plans with community leaders in connection with the traffic measure to be enforced in Balintawak, Quezon City, which was on the list of most critical areas along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue with the worst traffic situation.
Village officials led by Chairman Che de Jesus of Barangay Apolonio Samson met with Edison Nebrija, MMDA supervising officer for operation, and other agency officials to discuss the traffic management plan to be implemented in the area.
The MMDA recently identified Balintawak Market Road and other six areas where commuters and motorists are experiencing monstrous traffic that need the emergency powers of President Rodrigo Duterte to resolve.
The six other choke points along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue are Aurora Boulevard, Ortigas Avenue, Shaw Boulevard, Guadalupe, Ayala Avenue and Taft Avenue.
MMDA chairman Danilo Lim late last week led the clearing operations of illegally parked vehicles and vendors in the area.
He reiterated that it formally turned over the maintenance of the cleanliness and orderliness of the place to the concerned local officials, particularly the barangay executives.
Lim said his agency had repeatedly conducted operations in the area but it could not utilize MMDA personnel and resources all the time in clearing the place of road obstructions.
He said there were still numerous streets and roads in Metro Manila that needed clearing of traffic obstructions.
Meanwhile, environmentalist group Ecowaste Coalition appealed to Lim not to push through with his threat of burning stalls and merchandise of illegal vendors, saying the move would be tantamount to open burning, which is prohibited under Republic Act 9003.
Lim made the warning during the recent clearing operations in Balintawak where he and his men observed the presence of illegal merchants occupying sidewalks and streets affecting the flow of traffic in the area.
Lim said the stalls and the merchandise would be burned if the vendors would come back to non-designated vending areas and continue to defy the government’s anti-road obstruction drive.