Banana players seek exemption from truck ban

THE Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) would request exemption of trucks transporting bananas from the city’s truck ban as it would affect the quality of the goods.

In an interview with PBGEA executive director Stephen Antig, he said aside from the peace and order situation and the lack of proper road infrastructure in select areas in Mindanao, the truck ban in Davao City or City Ordinance No. 0227-17, is one of the challenges that the industry is facing.

The ordinance is an amendment to the Ordinance No. 0334-12 series of 2012, or the “Comprehensive Transport and Traffic Code of Davao City.”

The ordinance states that entry and exit of cargo trucks, gravel, and sand trucks, and other heavy cargo trucks with more than six wheels and up or whose gross vehicle weight exceed 4,500 kilograms, including tractor trailers, containerized haulers, or refrigerated vans shall not be allowed to travel on any and all the streets of Davao City, except on weekends and holidays, and along the truck routes.

Although the ordinance also states that perishable goods are exempted of this truck ban, Antig said banana transport is currently not exempted of this ban.

“We plan to send out a letter within the week to city councilor Conrado Baluran as advised by city councilor Danny Dayanghirang…We are going to explain in the letter why we would need an exemption from the truck ban, basically because bananas are perishable and it can’t be exposed to the heat for more than three hours,” Antig said.

He added trucks transporting bananas usually leave once the truck had been filled with cargo. He said they worry that by the time the truck had been filled by the harvests, the truck ban is already taking effect for the day.

When asked for an exact value of the spoiled banana because of the truck ban, Antig said they have yet to consolidate the data from their members but that these are currently doing respective computations. In the event that their request for exemption be disapproved, Antig said they plan to adjust their harvesting schedules to earlier time just so they wouldn’t reach the truck ban schedule. He added this would create additional hassle and has a huge impact to the industry.

As recently amended, the Davao City truck ban restricts use of truck routes from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The truck routes cover Southbound to Northbound route coming from General Santos City and Cotabato, beginning from Toril area, from the vicinity GTH, up to crossing Mergrande Beach Resort.

It also covers Southbound and Northbound route from Cagayan and Bukidnon, beginning from Cataluñan Pequeño proper up to corner Greenhills Subdivision, as well as Bunawan proper to the vicinity of Sumifru.

“We were not invited to consultations before the creation of this ban. We have laws and ordinances that usually come out without our knowledge because we at the sector were not consulted first. We were never invited. They should consult the stakeholders that would be affected by this,” Antig said.