BALANGA CITY, Bataan , Philippines – The Balanga City government is preparing a package of incentives to the first 200 tricycle drivers and operators who are interested to convert their units from gasoline to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel.
City Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III told The STAR the program is aimed at encouraging tricycle drivers to shift from gasoline to more efficient, cheaper and environment-friendly LPG fuel. The city government has allocated P 5,000 each as financial assistance for the first 200 tricycle units with the expected cost of conversion including installation of safety gadgets which runs to P13,000 per unit.
Garcia said the local authorities have recorded majority of the 3,000 members of Balanga City Federation of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association Inc. plying Balanga City and adjacent Pilar town have signified their intentions to join in the conversion campaign with the continuous increases in price of fossil fuels in the world market.
Citing the conversion scheme as timely, economical and pollution-free maintenance, Garcia said that the shifting from diesel or gasoline to LPG had passed the stringent road tests conducted by various government agencies including the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for safety concerns and the Clean Air Act.
Garcia said the use of LPG fuel in tricycles and other public vehicles is now propagated in Metro Manila and other parts of the country as alternative energy conservation program.
He has negotiated with the Liquigaz officials in Mariveles town, Bataan to put up a P2 million refilling station in Barangay Bagumbayan to provide uninterrupted LPG supply to those converted tricycle units.