E-jeepneys soon to hit Tacloban City

MANILA, Philippines - Electric jeepneys will soon arrive in Tacloban City following the groundbreaking of a solar-powered charging facility for e-jeepneys, environmentalists said yesterday.

The Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC) said the facility will not only charge e-jeepneys but also provide energy supplied by a 9.75-kilowatt hybrid solar photovoltaic system.

The facility will run commercial enterprises, such as Internet café, at a 750-square meter lot along Padre Burgos street.

“We welcome this project because it will help augment the number of public vehicles in Tacloban, many of which have been damaged by Typhoon Yolanda,” said Roy Ribo, who grew up in Tacloban.

The facility is part of RE-Charge Tacloban, an initiative of iCSC that launched e-jeepneys in Makati City in 2007.

“We will hire and train local drivers and technicians who will operate and maintain the RE-Charge facility. Through new technology and tools, we are determined to invest in Tacloban’s future,” Reina Garcia, iCSC program coordinator, said.

Garcia said RE-Charge Tacloban aims to help in the rehabilitation of the public transport system in the city.

Yolanda has affected almost 95 percent of the city’s transport sector, according to reports from the City Traffic Operation Management Enforcement and Control Office.

German volunteers cited

Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief (Technisches Hilfswerk or THW) volunteer relief workers, the Blue Angels, were honored by the Philippine embassy in Berlin and the German Interior Ministry for helping Yolanda victims.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziére and Philippine Ambassador to Germany Maria Cleofe Natividad expressed their appreciation to the Blue Angels during a reception organized by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and hosted by the Bavarian Representation to the Federal Republic of Germany in Berlin.

Some 130 volunteer workers and officials of THW, ambassadors and representatives from the Philippines attended the reception.

De Maiziére lauded the spirit of volunteerism of the THW volunteers who went to the Philippines to assist in the relief and humanitarian mission after Yolanda struck Eastern Visayas in November last year.