By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The provincial government of Negros Occidental has recovered five of its vehicles which were previously tagged as missing.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the five missing vehicles were either found in private repair shops or were “mysteriously parked” and were never properly turned over by their previous users.
According to Diaz, the five vehicles were immediately repaired and are now back in service.
Diaz said they are now securing the vehicles registration and insurance documents prior to returning to service.
The missing vehicles include utility trucks and sedan-type cars. He noted some of the vehicles were previously assigned under the Provincial Environmental Management Office (PEMO) and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO).
Following the recovery of the missing vehicles, Diaz said they are now planning to include them in the existing fleet of 15 service vehicles exclusively for use by frontline provincial government employees.
He said they are currently developing a mobile phone application, wherein capitol employees will be able to book the vehicles.
In principle, Diaz likened the application to a ride hailing service, but it is only available for use by provincial government employees.
Diaz said upon getting the vehicle of their choice, they can only use it for official government business, or as a service vehicle between their home and workplace.
The government-owned vehicles are not allowed to be used for their own personal travel.
Capitol employees are given the option to have a driver or if they want to drive the vehicle themselves.
The booking procedure also includes a travel order.
Upon the end of the rental-period, capitol employees are required to return the vehicles back, after which one of their personnel will check the vehicle for any damage and if it was cleaned up.
If the vehicle has been damaged, the employee who rented the vehicle will be held responsible.
Diaz added the vehicles will always be fully fueled and he expects the employee must make sure that it is also still fully fueled once it is returned.
With the new capitol riding system, the provincial government employees will be protected from any harm, the provincial administrator added/DGB, WDJ