ALIAGA, Nueva Ecija – Residents of this farming town has another reason to abstain from firecrackers this season.
Despite heightened alert, the lone firetruck has been unoperational since September and will have to stay at its sorry state, at least until the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) allots budget for either buying a new engine or change of transmission, the acting town fire marshal said.
Senior Fire Officer 3 Narciso Edubane, said he has requested funding from the BFP regional office and the office of Mayor Marcial Vargas but while both offices have positively responded, no immediate relief can be expected.
“The municipal government is now looking for transmission in Metro Manila in other places but has yet to find one,” he said.
He recommended the change of engine which would cost some P200,000 to the BFP. However, he said the office told him that there was no available budget for the purchase of a new engine this year.
“I was told that the regional office may allot fund early next year,” he said.
The 2,000-liter Ford firetruck is about 40 years in service, Edubane said. “At that age, we can expect a truck or any vehicle to be eating funds for maintenance.”
Aliaga, a second class municipality of Nueva Ecija, has over 70,000 people in 42 villages. Eyed to be the “Divisoria of the North,” the town is banking on the construction of a new superhighway that is designed to connect Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway to Aurora via Nueva Ecija municipalities.
If the ratio (BFP rule) of one firetruck to 40,000 people is strictly followed, sources said this town should have at least two firetrucks.
