Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Eric Ines is contemplating terminating contracts of the pest control and housekeeping units due to dissatisfaction with their performance at the airport terminals.
The MIAA chief made the announcement following two distinct occurences of rat and bed bug infestations at terminals 2 and 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Ines admitted that there were also lapses on the part of the private conceasionaires in cleaning and maintaining the four terminal facilities properly.
"Ang nakita ko walong personnel lang ang pwede nila i-deploy sa pest control, walong tao lang. One terminal eight personnel, yun kasi nakalagay sa contract, so I say kulang ito. May basis pala itong terms of reference (I saw the contracts and term of reference, it shows they only have eight personnel handling the terminal. So, what I am saying is this is not enough)," Ines said in a radio interview, adding, "We are currently summarizing our demands."
The airport manager said the term of reference was not from MIAA but from a private agency.
MIAA management will also ban passengers from placing bags or luggage on the four-seater gang-chair at the airport.
"We don't have to penalize the passengers but we will strictly monitor it," Ines said during Monday's meeting with private pest control maintenance unit.
MIAA Head Executive Assistant Chris Noel Bendijo said earlier that the MIAA manager had ordered a review of the contracts to identify any places.
The food concessionaires were also reminded to maintain cleanliness and hygiene in their premises to avoid such incidents in the future.
Several air travelers expressed their frustration on social media after experiencing being bitten by bed bugs on the benches in the departure area of NAIA Terminal 2. A few days later, another incident occurred when passengers noticed a rat in Terminal 3.
Bendijo said replacing the service provider, however, may not be a simple task since it requires a bidding process like other government procurements.
"We understand that requirements are being a government entity, so it's not going to be as simple as is to change the service provider. What we can assure you is that by Monday, we will revisit our cleaning process. What might happen is that just for the sake of compliance, what is provided may be topical. We will look at their track record to see if there were any lapses and act on their commitment moving forward," Bendijo said.
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