Ports to acquire 18 shuttle buses

At least 18 additional shuttle buses will soon be acquired by the Cebu Ports Authority before the year ends as part of its improvement and safety measures for passengers and cargo operations.

Engr. Dennis Villamor, CPA deputy general manager, bared the plan for cargo handling operations to be separated from the area services of passengers for efficiency and convenience.

He said that the CPA has three passenger terminals with only five buses which are not sufficient to ferry passengers.

Also in the pipeline for acquisition by the CPA before the end of the year is a patrol craft with a P5 million budget allocation that is already set aside.

The patrol craft is part of strengthening security measures surrounding the port and will also come in handy in times of assistance needed in sea rescue operations in coordination with the regional offices of the PNP Maritime Office and the Philippine Coast Guard.

Incidence of theft within the CPA compound has also been addressed as those who do not have official business inside the port are not allowed to go inside. The CPA has also long since demolished illegal structures and evicted informal settlers within and just outside the port premises.

The Philippine Ports Authority has already imposed an access control regulation measure to ensure that nobody can enter the PPA grounds without any legitimate business in other ports.

As part of its anti-terror measure, the PPA provides all ports nationwide within its jurisdiction an X-ray machine detector that can spot bomb-making components.

The PPA has also allocated an initial P200 million for the acquisition of 50 K9 dogs that would be used to detect bombs and illegal products brought into the ships. In Cebu, there are around seven K-9 dogs used for this purpose.

On the other hand, the Philippine Coast Guard has created the anti-terrorism unit based in Manila and that other coastguard units are also asked to form their own special operations group to respond to terrorism-related incidents or scenarios.

PCG–Visayas Command deputy commander Eduardo Fabricante, however, said security measures must primarily be instituted by the port offices and the ship management in compliance with the International Port Safety Code. — Gregg M. Rubio/MEEV