BAGUIO CITY – Despite the closure of Kennon Road, the Cordillera Region Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CRDRRMC) has set window hours to allow residents to pass through the landslide affected area in Barangay Camp 6, Sitio Camp 5 in Tuba, Benguet.
CRDRRMC Chairman, OCD-Cordillera Regional Director Albert Mogol said they have allowed “window hours” for residents along Kennon Road to pass thru the landslide affected area.
He said that only vehicles of residents and public utility vehicles plying Kennon Road will be allowed to pass thru the area from 6 am to 9 am and again from 5 pm to 7:30 pm.
“We allotted a window for the residents to pass from 6 am to 9 am because the students along Kennon Road study in Baguio City aside from the traders who bring their produce to Baguio,” Mogol said.
Residents, mostly students studying in schools and universities in Baguio City and nearby Benguet towns as well as those working in government offices and those selling their produce in the city clamoured to their barangay officials for them to be allowed to pass thru the closed road which was granted by the CRDRRMC and the Task Force Kennon Road.
Barangay officials together with DPWH personnel and the Tuba Municipal Police Station will be assisting during the window hours to assure safety of residents passing through.
Mogol stressed that beyond the window hours, no vehicle or person will be allowed to pass, due to the high risk of falling debris and landslide.
“We are discouraging people to pass even while walking because the area is really unstable and after the window time, the heavy equipment will already start working, bringing down rocks and soil,” Mogol said.
On July 26, a portion of the Sitio Camp 5 with a length of more than 50 meters eroded covering a portion of Kennon Road and even affecting some residential houses. The debris was cleared but the area remained closed to residents and non-residents to ensure safety of people and properties in the area.
The CRDRRMC also recommend earlier that residents leaving in Camp 4 down to Camp 1 going up to Baguio City could take Marcos Highway rather than risk their lives walking thru the landslide affected area. (RMC/PIA-CAR)
