BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) in Western Visayas approved the request of four local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental to suspend the arrival of locally stranded individuals (LSIs).
RIATF’s Dec. 1 resolution signed by its chairperson Juan Jovian Ingeniero of the Department of Interior and Local Government Region 6 imposed a moratorium on LSIs in the cities of Himamaylan and Victorias from Dec. 21 to Jan. 3, 2021.
Arrival of LSIs in the town of Calatrava will also be suspended from Dec. 21 to Jan. 3, 2021.
The town of Cauayan, on the other hand, will have a 14-day timeout starting Dec. 20.
According to Ingeniero, officials of the Himamaylan City sent a letter to the RIATF on Nov. 26. They want to decongest their quarantine facilities and give frontliners ample time to rest.
Victorias City also made a similar request.
The municipality of Calatrava, meanwhile, needed to reorganize their quarantine facilities in preparation for the resumption of LSI arrivals on Jan. 3. Authorities in Cauayan said they needed time to conduct repairs and maintenance of their quarantine facilities.
The RIATF earlier approved the request of the provincial government for a moratorium on LSI arrivals from Dec. 24, 25, 31 and Jan. 1, 2021.
During the period, the Bacolod-Silay Airport will be closed for passenger traffic to allow health workers assigned in swabbing new arrivals sufficient time to rest and celebrate the holidays./PN
