Elitists or plain incompetent?

Why only now?

Today, the mobilization phase of the NLEX-SLEX Inter-Connector project begins in the heart of Metro Manila between Makati and the City of Manila. After 45 days or so, the actual construction work will begin in earnest. Motorists in Metro Manila have been told to brace themselves for what promises to be 2 years of life changing misery brought about by traffic, delays and in all likelihood a sense of chaos and confusion as the national government try to come up with different solutions and ideas to deal with the disturbance the project and a dozen more like it will cause on our quality of life.

But why are they talking about traffic reduction solutions only now considering these projects have been on the drawing boards, undergoing reviews and have been the subject of much reporting, criticism and even legal arguments and legal wrangling. Is the PNoy administration so full of businessmen and elitists that no one even bothered to think of the consequences and suffering their projects would inflict upon the people and our economy for 2 years? Are they adopting an “I don’t care” or “I don’t give a damn” attitude since President Noynoy will no longer be in office by 2016 and won’t be running for re-election?

Two weeks ago, the PNoy administration announced that after two long years of promises and delays, several major road infrastructure projects such as the NLEX-SLEX Interconnector would finally break ground and actually start today. Afterwards MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino lost no time sounding the alarm for Metro Manila residents to prepare for the worst in terms of traffic, delays and congestions. Initially, I found that counter productive and irritating since it sort of watered down the rare opportunity of the government to hype up real or actual activities in infrastructure.

But in hindsight, I now realize that Tolentino had no choice in the mater because Filipinos are so jaded or indifferent that we don’t react until someone says there’s going to be a Tsunami, a Major Earthquake, Coup d’Etat, or that EDSA will turn into a 3-hour parking lot every morning and evening! Either Tolentino hits the panic button and gets our attention, or he stays calm and collected and then be blamed by idiots for allegedly not saying or doing anything. That much I’ll give to Tolentino and the MMDA.

However, after listening to 3 days worth of press statements, explanations, and suggestions on what can be done, what’s clear is that the PNoy administration spent all of its time to get all the road projects off the ground but no one really studied the impact scenarios of those projects and how to solve them. It was as if everybody said “that’s not my concern”. All they wanted and focused on was getting projects started on. There were no studies or solutions and clearly there was no action plan prepared for implementation to avert or to ease the mega traffic jams and 3-hour delays they are now talking about!

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Given the prospects of literally living on the fast lane for a combined 6 hours a day, any motorist or employee would be “all ears” to any, and all suggestions. Whether it’s to cut down schooldays down to 4 days a week, stagger working hours, ban all local road construction, car pooling etc., etc. The question is why are government officials only now, suggesting and consulting each other on something that should have been done along with the project studies or while they were going through the DPWH, NEDA, MMDA and Malacañang.

This in my view is proof that the consequences of construction was conveniently overlooked by planners and now they’re all scrambling to find solutions that should have been there at least 6 to 12 months ago! Because of their utter incompetence at planning, their solution is to tell us to “Just grin and bare it” and live with it.

How will cutting down to 4-day weeks affect family schedules, what adjustments will have to be made on home life? How will such changes impact the learning, study habits and lifestyle of students particularly those in elementary and High School? Are there similar cases we can review or base the suggestion on? How will compressing school days affect the performance of students? Did anybody consider that if we could waste 2 years, it might make perfect sense to just wait until the school year is over so that the government would have 2 to 3 months of less traffic, less vehicles on the road before starting their projects. Government officials can then develop the best solutions without having to panic or be under the gun or public displeasure.

If the government imposes staggered work schedules and dismissal times, how will they synchronize manufacturing with deliveries etc? In other words do we have enough data to guide us through such a major overhaul or redesign of all our lives in Metro Manila or are they once again going to say: “That’s the problem of the private sector”? Schedules are not just a bunch of numbers we can move around to fit certain needs or address certain complications. Schedules are time-based systems that allow us to be efficient, productive and logical. Any disruption whatsoever has serious impact on people and society at large.

In terms of solutions, I worry about the instant solution mindset and motor-mouths in this administration because they have a habit of giving press release solutions then find their solutions blown off the way the roofs of bunkhouses were blown of in Guiuan, Eastern Samar. Then they move on to the next project, the next disaster while we are left fuming in traffic or picking up the pieces. They say that in the Kingdom of the Blind, the man with one eye is King. What sort of King would reign in the Kingdom of Incompetents? Would you even want to be King? –Cito Beltran (The Philippine Star)