‘Relocating Naia will ease traffic in Metro’

RELOCATING the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) outside Metro Manila would help address the perennial traffic congestion in the metropolis, a motorists’ rights group said on Sunday.

The Road Users’ Protection Advocates (Rupa) also called on the Duterte administration to look for engineering solutions to stem the bottleneck of vehicles in “traffic magnets” such as shopping malls and other commercial establishments.

“Road congestion will be solved not only by creating more space for vehicles, but also relocating traffic magnets to ease clogging in important road arteries,” Rupa executive director Nick Elman said in a statement.

Besides the traffic problem, he noted the dangers posed by airport operations to the health and safety of residents living near the airport complex located at the boundary of Pasay and Parañaque cities.

Elman recalled that eight people perished when a Philippine Airlines jet overshot the Naia runway and hit vehicles on  the adjacent South Luzon Expressway on July 21, 1989.

He added that five years ago, a small cargo plane crashed into a populated village near the airport, causing a fire that killed 13 people, mostly children, and engulfed 50 houses.

“[These] should be enough reason for Naia to be transferred somewhere where passengers will not be inconvenienced by long drives and rides from Metro Manila,” Elman said.