Thursday, September 16, 2010

Better management of Bacolod-Silay airport urged

Members of the Negros Occidental provincial board have called for an improvement in the management of the Bacolod-Silay Airport following numerous complaints.

In a dialog with airport manager Felizardo Toralba at the Vice Governor’s Office at the Capitol in Bacolod City on Tuesday, the provincial officials said there were complaints about the airport being dirty with stinking toilets and poor air conditioning.
They also noted that janitors and security personnel worked as porters instead of doing their jobs.

Toralba said he would act on the matter of cleanliness and instructed the janitors and the security men to refrain from acting as porters.

He said the centralized air conditioning system at the airport had been damaged by fluctuating power from the Central Negros Electric Cooperative and that funds were needed for its repair.

Half of the airport's P8 million monthly income has to be remitted to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Toralba said.

Board Member Nehemias de la Cruz, chairman of the provincial board’s Committee on Tourism

, urged Toralba to address the problems of the airport immediately because it was a show window for Negros Occidental.

“The tourists’ first and last impressions of Negros Occidental are important,” De la Cruz said.

The airport, which is supposed to be of international standards, would need more operational funds and improved management, he said.

Board Member Emilio Yulo III said they would ask the national government for more funding for the Bacolod-Silay Airport.

Board Member Patrick Lacson noted that the Department of Transportation has the responsibility of checking if the airport has met international standards.

Lacson suggested that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan tap the help of the Department of Tourism in ensuring the maintenance of all the country's major airports, including that in Bacolod City, to prevent complaints from tourists.

Posted via email from Aviation Professionals dot Org

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