MAYNILAD HEEDS TO REVILLA, NO MORE DIGGINGS IN AGUINALDO

Due to public uproar, Maynilad Water Services Inc. heeded to the appeal of Senate Committee on Public Works and Public Services Chairman Senator Bong Revilla to cancel its 5.5 kilometer pipe-laying project along Aguinaldo Highway in Bacoor, Cavite .

Revilla disclosed that officials of Maynilad assured him that there will be no more diggings along Aguinaldo Highway to prevent repetition of monstrous traffic jam it had caused during its dry-run excavation last week.

"Instead of Aguinaldo Highway , Maynilad will work along Longos to Evangelista roads. That is what they promised to me. I hope that they will keep their promise unless they want to encounter public protest again," said Revilla.

The lawmaker also bared that diggings and pipe-laying in the said roads will only be done from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. to avoid rush hour.

"They will not excavate the roads simultaneously. They will dig every 50 meters and they will cover it after their work so the motorists can use the roads in the morning," the senator explained.

It could be recalled that Revilla reiterated his opposition to Maynilad's persistence to push through with its six month long pipe-laying in Aguinaldo after the botched up dry-run last Monday (April 20). Prior to the dry-run, both agreed to postpone the project implementation until Maynilad conducts a successful traffic re-routing dry-run yielding satisfactory results.

In the dry-run, the flow of traffic along Aguinaldo Highway , the province's gateway to and from Manila , became highly congested with traffic building up over 10 kilometers long and travel times delayed by over 4 hours. This caused frustration and anger among motorists who need to travel to Manila daily for work and commerce.

Aside from commuters who failed to come to work and those who managed to come in late to work because of the unprecedented traffic pile-up, Cavite-based businessmen and industry locators also expressed apprehensions on the adverse effects the traffic situation may bring to the flow of their goods and services.

"We recognize the importance of providing safe potable water to the public, but we do not want to create another problem which is the huge traffic jam that will affect the delivery of goods and travel of our workforce," Revilla pointed out.