Management plan ready for submission, says traffic czar

By LITO RULONA,
Correspondent

Task Force Hapsay Dalan chairman and overseer of the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) Jose Edgardo Uy said they have a lot of old and ongoing programs, projects, and activities that when collated would serve as RTA’s Traffic Management Plan (TMP).

Uy issued the statement in reaction to the deferment of its P90 million budget because the RTA chief Nonito Oclarit failed to present a TMP during the budget deliberations last week.

Uy also said the collated Traffic Management Plan is in fact ready for submission to the City Council Committee on Local Finance chaired by city councilor Edna Dahino who decided to put RTA’s budget request on hold.

“This more extensive TMP covers not only specific road work and trafficelated programs but also the enhancement of the managerial capabilities of the RTA, and the strengthening of the entire RTA organization,” he said.

Uy added that initially they will submit an introductory portion of the TMP, which will be submitted to the City Council once it will have been signed by the members of the RTA Advisory Council.

“A Traffic Management Plan [TMP] is a plan established to specifically and clearly direct and control traffic disruptions that call for coordinated actions from several services responsible for road and traffic management on a given road or network. It is also a site-specific plan that covers the design, implementation, maintenance and removal of temporary traffic management measures while work or activity is carried out in the road corridor,” he said.

Uy explained that RTA is a separate and distinct department of the city hall. While it has an organizational structure under City Ordinance No. 10551-2007 or the Traffic Code of Cagayan de Oro City, such organizational set-up does not directly address the pressing traffic conditions of the city.

“On the premise that a weak organization cannot effectively deliver its mandate, the department (has) to undergo a series of activities that are aimed at rehabilitating it, both in the management style of its managerial personnel and in the provision of productivity-enhancing tools and equipment,” he pointed out.