Oclarit given 24 hrs to explain inaction

By JOEY NACALABAN
with NITZ ARANCON
Correspondents .

MAYOR Oscar Moreno ordered Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) chief Nonito Oclarit to explain why a  crane truck that stalled in the middle of the highway in Gusa was left there for days, resulting in an accident that killed a government engineer on Friday.

City hall spokesperson Maricel Rivera confirmed that Engr. Oclarit was sent a memorandum through city administrator Teodoro Sabuga-a Jr..

Sabuga-a signed Memorandum 0575-18 addressed to Oclarit, dated June 25, giving the RTA chief 24 hours to submit an explanation.

It is unclear if Oclarit, who holds the position of assistant department head in the local government, already received a copy of the memorandum or if he has already written back to Sabuga-a.

Sabuga-a said Oclarit’s official explanation would be forwarded to city hall’s legal office for recommendation.

“Ang legal office na dayon ang muhatag kung unsa ang ilang ipahamtang nga penalty sumala sa iyang sayop nga nabuhat,” Sabugaa said.

But Rivera said the fate of Oclarit or city hall’s action on the RTA would depend on “the wisdom of the mayor.”

In an earlier interview with Oclarit, he said he only learned about the problems caused by the crane truck in Gusa only after the death of Engr. Ifour Manduro on Friday, three days after it conked out in the fastlane of the highway.

Oclarit said the problem was “overlooked” even as he blamed an unnamed radio operator who supposedly did not promptly relay to him a report about the crane truck the day before the fatal accident.

Moreno has expressed dismay over Manduro’s death and RTA’s failure to move the stalled crane truck to a safe place.

Over radio station DxCC on Monday, Moreno frowned over Oclarit’s initial explanation that the crane truck that conked in the highway was “overlooked” and that he was unaware of the situation in Gusa for days until after the Friday accident.

Moreno said the accident underscored the need to upgrade the RTA’s equipment so it would be able to move huge vehicles and heavy equipment.

He said city hall has plans of buying more equipment for the RTA next year.

RTA, he said, could not cope with its workload and so he merged it and the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Department (CDRRMD) into one office in the hope of improving its work of clearing roads of traffic hazards and obstructions.

Still, the budgets of the RTA and CDRRMD remained separate.

“Ang pundo alang sa disaster, mandatory ug mahimong gastohon nga dili na mo-agi sa city council, apan ang pundo alang sa RTA, agi gyud sa approval sa council,” Moreno said.