By Dave G. Malcampo
ZAMBOANGA CITY – City Administrator Antonio Orendain
Jr. yesterday (May 4) said that
the new integrated bus terminal in Divisoria would be operational as soon as
the personnel needed for its operations will have been hired.
Orendain said that the only thing holding back the
terminal’s operation is the provision of personnel. “They will man the terminal
24/7,” he said. “They will be covering four shifts of 6 hours each.”
He shared that he already talked with Dr. Jane Bascar of
the Human Resources Department to help look for vacancies in other departments,
which can be used to fill in all the 55 required personnel for the IBT.
“We will also be hiring security and janitorial staff,”
Orendain said.
According to Orendain, bus operators such as Rural Transit
were already brought to the new terminal for familiarization last week. “We
already gave them a walkthrough of the facilities,” he said.
The new terminal will have facilities such as air
conditioning and an x-ray machine for enhanced security.
Meanwhile, the City
Administrator’s Office has received a total of approximately 1,100 applications
for lease for the bus terminal’s 17 stalls. Orendain assured that the bus
terminal committee has set up a system to fairly choose the 17 concessionaires.