More compelling reasons for Naia’s transfer

THIS REFERS to the Inquirer story titled “Relocating Naia will ease traffic in Metro” (Metro, 8/22/16), which cited the need to transfer airport operations to outside of Metro Manila.

While traffic is the biggest and more obvious reason the airport should be moved outside of population centers, there are two other big reasons: safety and pollution.

Human lives have been lost due to plane crashes and accidents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, including the eight who died due to a plane accident. They were not passengers of the ill-fated aircraft; they were in a car that was hit by the plane that overshot the runway and landed on the South Luzon Expressway.

Most of the fatalities from the Naia plane crashes were not plane passengers, like those who died when a Beechcraft Queen Air plunged into a shantytown shortly after takeoff from Naia. Thirteen died from that crash, three aboard the plane; the rest, mostly children, perished in houses razed by the fire caused by the crash.

The other big issue, albeit not as seriously discussed, is pollution. There is surely air and noise pollution. Aircraft takeoff produce so much air pollutants that can create lung problems among residents near the area over time. Then there is the noise pollution, which leads to sleeping and hearing problems.

In some advanced countries, the reason airports are built away from major population centers is not traffic congestion; it’s safety and health problems.

Being a poor country, pollution and safety are not noticed as the better reason the Naia should be brought somewhere else.

—JAMES THOMAS VELOSO, Institute for Consumer Research and Empowerment (I-CORE), [email protected]