Anti-smoke belching drive nets 8,000

Smoke belching apprehensions by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) during the past four months have reached almost 8,000 as a result of its campaign against air-polluting vehicles.

MMDA chairman Jejomar Binay reported Monday that up to Oct. 5, a total of 7,838 vehicles have been apprehended since its anti-smoke belching (ASB) campaign started last May 22.

Of the total, 3,583 (45.7 percent) were utility vehicles composed primarily of Tamaraw FX, pick-up trucks and vans. Some 42.1 percent or 3,305 were buses plying EDSA from Taft Avenue to Monumento.

Most of the ASB teams of the MMDA have been set up along EDSA, the main target of its campaign. "I am very optimistic the ASB teams will break the 8,000 apprehensions by this week because they have shown no let-up in their campaign," Binay said.

Last month alone, the ASB teams apprehended 2,342 vehicles, which was the highest monthly haul since the campaign started.

The rest of the apprehensions are as follows: public utility jeeps 526 or 6.71 percent; trucks, 240 or 3.06 percent; and taxis, 184 or 2.34 percent.

"This shows that we are standing firm on our earlier statements that the campaign against smoke belchers will have no let-up and is non-negotiable," Binay said.

On traffic violation apprehensions, the MMDA nabbed 15,665 motorists from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3. The total represented an increase of 8.64 percent from the 14,419 apprehended the previous week.

Binay said the rise in the volume of apprehensions was due to the improvement in the training of the MMDA’s traffic enforcers.

A total of 1,016 enforcers representing 48 percent of the total force of the MMDA have recently completed half of their weekly disciplinary training. – Marvin Sy