In any establishment — be it a mall, grocery supermarket, movie house, hotel, office building — a parking area is extremely essential. The importance of parking areas is not merely confined into whether or not an establishment has allocated spaces for customer’s vehicles to park, but also whether or not these parking spaces are adequate, if these are safe, if these do not violate any local ordinances and national directives, and if these areas can really take good care of the vehicles being parked on them.
In a luncheon meeting last March 3 at the Bethel Guest House participated in by the different City government department heads and chiefs of office and presided over by City Administrator Rex Gonzales, the issue on parking inside City Hall compound was broached.
Apparently, untoward incidents have taken place because, for one, the parking spaces provided within the compound do not have their own designated parking attendants. Because nobody watches over the parked vehicles, anything can happen — from pilfering to scratching of vehicle exteriors.
It was noted during that meeting that one big reason why no parking attendant wants to stay in these areas is because there is no income for these attendants. Employees who park their motorcycles/cars would not even hand out a measly P1.00 for the attendant’s effort, so naturally, no parking boy will waste his time and energy on a place that does not generate any income for him.
Another reason why the government compound has problems with parking is because there really is no exact designated place where people can park their cars and motorcycles. Wherever one wants to park, he/she can park there, and no questions asked. The result is that four-wheeled vehicles and motorbikes are parked in the same place, not to mention the disorder and chaos it produces.
In a recent inquiry by the Commission on Audit, it was found that the reason why government vehicles become easily worn out is because of inappropriate parking; also because these vehicles are exposed too much to environmental elements since there is no suitable garage.
I strongly recommend that the local government allocate some funds for the creation of a designated parking area, one for government vehicles and another one for the vehicles owned by government employees to avoid problematic situations to arise.
Likewise, these parking spaces must have a roof over them so that the vehicles’ exposure to heavy rains and to the scorching heat of the sun is minimized.
Another suggestion would be for the Traffic Management Office to search for and assign parking attendants to watch over the vehicles. As soon as there are attendants posted on these parking spaces, the employees who park their vehicles must be enjoined to pay these parking attendants so that they are encouraged not to leave their posts since they will also earn some income in the premises.
I don’t think the budget would be an issue.
If we were able to invest some amount and beautify Rizal Boulevard or Quezon Park, there is no reason why we can’t construct parking spaces for the City’s constituents, and for the City’s own employees.
If we are able to spare thousands of pesos for a luncheon (like the meeting held at Bethel), there is no reason why we can’t allocate a few thousands for parking lots.
Actually, if we only allow ourselves to be creative and resourceful, putting up these parking spaces will not really cost so much.
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Author’s email: wea_129@yahoo.com
