As the Christmas season fast approaches, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is asking again mall operators along EDSA to change their hours of operation in a bid to ease traffic congestion.
MMDA Spokesperson Celine Pialago said in a radio interview that they will request mall operators to adjust the opening and closing of establishments to a later time.
Pialago said that instead of 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., malls could open from 11 a.m. to midnight.
Pialago added that the MMDA would also ask the operators to refrain from holding sale events on weekdays as well as to change the schedule of deliveries to 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day.
The agency is also willing to coordinate with mall security personnel to manage traffic flow for as long as customers are inside, even until midnight, The STAR reported.
Pialago said that the agency and mall operators are set to meet anytime this week to finalize the plans.
The MMDA implemented its policy on changes in mall hours last year. It also suspended works on certain major roads in Metro Manila, such as EDSA for around two months. – With Ghio Ong
