Babala ng Kamara: Toll operators puwedeng bawian ng konsesyon

MAAARING bawiin ng Kamara ang konsesyon ng dalawang operators ng North Luzon Expressway at ng South Luzon Expressway kung hindi maaayos ang problema sa RFID na nagdulot ng pahirap sa mga maglalakbay patungong hilaga at kanlurang bahagi ng bansa.

Ayon kay Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento, ang pinuno ng House committee on transportation, ang gobyerno ay maaaring mag-takeover sa pagpapatakbo ng expressways.

“They (DOTr) can always revoke the concession agreement. The government can take over,” ani Sarmiento sa Ugnayan sa Batasan media forum.

Ayon kay Sarmiento, may kasalanan sa napakalaking gusot sa cashless toll ang Toll Regulatory Board na nakasasakop sa Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation sa NLEX at San Miguel Corporation naman sa SLEX.

“The TRB is to blame here. We have been very pro-active on this. We held hearings here and made recommendations early on. Sana man lang nakinig sila. The cashless transaction is fine but this should have been done right. The system is not yet prepared for it,” ani Sarmiento.

Maaari rin, aniya, ipitin ng Kamara ang budget ng Department of Transportation (DOTr) dahil hindi nakinig sa payo ng lehislatura.

“We can still do something about the budget of the DOTr because our recommendations fell on deaf ears. Our last card is the ratification of the 2021 budget. We have always given them help, but our appeal is nothing to do this at the expense of the motoring public,” ayon kay Sarmiento.

Ayon kay House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez ng Cagayan de Oro City, kasama rin sa media forum sa pamamagitan ng zoom, sangayon siya kay Sarmiento.

“I support congressman Sarmiento on this. He has researched this very well,” ani Rodriguez.

Naunang sinabi nina House Deputy Speaker Wes Gatchalian ng Valenzuela at Rep. Alfred delos Santos ng Ang Probinsiyano party-list na ipagpaliban muna ang implementasyon ng cashless payment sa toll habang hindi pa ayos ang mga sensor ng RFID.

Ayon kay Gatchalian, chairman ng trade and industry committee ng Mababang Kapulungan ng Kongreso, ipagpaliban muna ang pagpatupad ng cashless payment hanga’t hindi pa magkasama ang sistema ng dalawang operator ng expressways.

“Implementing the cashless payment scheme without interoperability will only create more problems for our motoring public. We are asking for a longer period of installation because we don’t want the motoring public to go out all at the same time,” ani Gatchalian.

Sa panig ni Delos Santos, masyadong pahirap sa mga motorista ang ipinatupad na cashless transactions sa toll fees.

“We fully support this policy of the DOTr but as much as we support this policy, we have to think other considerations as well. This is because these two RFID systems are incompatible with one another,” ani De los Santos.

Aniya, ang kasalukuyang patakaran na may dalawang operator ng RFID ay nagdudulot ng “confusion and burdensome to motorists.”

“For our motorists who seldom use the expressways, this is confusing and very hard to say the least,” giit ni De los Santos.

“This is especially so burdensome to our motorists from the provinces, and with the pandemic restrictions, it is not that easy to just go anywhere the have their RFIDs registered. Of course, not all of them have the luxury of time to register,” aniya. (GERRY BALDO)