Quezon City’s Task Force for Transport and Traffic Management has buckled down to work in clearing major roads of illegal obstructions.
“In compliance with the directive of Mayor Joy Belmonte, we went immediately to work,” task force chief Ariel Inton said Sunday. The clearing operations dubbed as “Bayanihan sa Lansangan” has emerged from Belmonte’s desire to provide livelihood to those who are displaced by the city’s campaign to clear roads, he said.
“This stemmed from the desire of the mayor to provide the vendors the opportunity to [still] earn. We cannot just ignore them,” he added.
The task force, on the first week since its inception, has focused on Mabuhay Lanes on the initial week of clearing operation.
“The first day was the whole of West Avenue, the second day is Del Monte up to Mayon Street. The third was the whole stretch of Mindanao Avenue until part of Congressional (Avenue). The fourth is Congressional all the way to half of Luzon Avenue going to Katipunan corner Aurora Boulevard,” he said.
Next week, the Task Force will continue clearing operations on Mabuhay Lanes as mandated by President Rodrigo Duterte and the local government unit, “specifically on the 60-day period to at least on the minimum clear the whole of Mabuhay Lanes.”
According to Inton, the barangays, in coordination with the task force, are doing their own clearing operations in their areas of jurisdiction.
In her directive, Belmonte authorized the task force to focus on the regulation of tricycles and pedicabs, the orderliness and safety of all forms of public utility vehicle terminals, including identified loading and unloading points and the management of vehicular traffic.
The task force will remain in place until a new body, the Quezon City Department of Traffic and Transport Management, is created and become fully operational as part of Belmonte’s 14-point executive agenda.