Malls to adjust operating hours

B operating hours to help ease the

MMDA General Manager Jose of SM Supermalls, Ayala Arturo Garcia Jr. said representatives malls and Robinsons agreed to open their malls at 11 a. m. on weekdays instead of 10 a. m. and close after 9 p. m. from November 5 to January 14.

Mall representatives also agreed not to hold weekday sales from 6 a. m. to 10 p. m.

There are at least 15 shopping malls located along EDSA.

MMDA records showed that traffic volume rises by 15 to 20 percent between November and December.

“Traffic is already bad and we expect it to get worse as the number of vehicles increases,” Garcia said.

Mall operators also agreed to deploy additional security personnel, to be deputized by the MMDA, to manage traffic flow within their vicinity to avoid gridlocks.

Representatives from Meralco, Globe, PLDT, Maynilad and Manila Water were present during the meeting yesterday and promised to postpone road works until January.

Garcia said the moratorium bans any digging on the road, passageways and sidewalks “for the installation, repair, or improvement of water pipes, telephone or telegraph wires or cable conduits, sewers and drainage systems, communication and power line improvements.”