MANILA, Philippines?The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has begun tearing down waiting sheds owned by two advertising companies on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) for being ?obstructive? and ?obsolete.?
MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando said that as of Friday night, the agency has removed 27 of 46 waiting sheds owned by High Desert Philippines Inc. and High Desert Stop-Overs Inc.
The waiting sheds on the northbound and southbound portions of EDSA from Magallanes Village in Makati City to Monumento in Caloocan City blocked traffic, prevented the use of sidewalks and no longer served their purpose, said the official.
?The previously designated loading and unloading zones are no longer existing or have been relocated or repositioned,? Fernando said in a statement.
The removal of the structures came despite an injunction issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 95 stopping the MMDA from dismantling the sheds.
Under a previous agreement the two firms had with the MMDA, they could put up and maintain waiting sheds on the major thoroughfare.
Fernando, however, terminated the agreement on Aug. 8, 2006, prompting the two agencies to file a P2.5-million damage suit against him.
At the same time, the MMDA official ordered the firms to remove the existing sheds and the billboards that had been placed on top of the structures before Sept. 16, 2006.
?Traffic congestion and its allied problems, are, to say the least, a great peril to public safety. The necessity of removing plaintiffs? waiting sheds, particularly those along the stretch of EDSA, is prompted by a desire to address these problems immediately. Public welfare, then, lies at the bottom of the MMDA?s course of action,? said Fernando.
He also argued that the billboards on top of the waiting sheds derailed the national government?s campaign against signages and may even cause accidents.
At the same time, Fernando said the waiting sheds have become obsolete due to the new loading and unloading bays set up by the MMDA in line with its Organized Bus Route program.
