Caloocan boots out container yard operators

MANILA, Philippines - Operators of container yards in Caloocan are leaving the city for good after the city government refused to renew their permits, an official said yesterday.

“At least two container yards have been vacated and the rest have up to the end of the year to ship out. What is certain is that we will not allow them to get permits, which means they will be forced to leave the city,” Mayor Oscar Malapitan told The STAR.

The container yards, mostly located along Dagat-Dagatan Avenue, have been a perennial cause of traffic jams and the subject of complaints by residents of several barangays straddling the area, including Malabon.

Malapitan said they have been talking with investors who are interested in putting up big-ticket projects on the site of the container yards.

The Malabon City government, on the other hand, is studying the possibility of banning trucks from major thoroughfares in the area.

Mayor Antolin Oreta III has instructed Roderick Tongol, city public safety and traffic management office chief, to arrest drivers parking their trucks on major streets.