NLEx appeals for understanding as 78 workers on quarantine, sick leave

NLEx Corp., the operator of North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), on Friday appealed for the motoring public's understanding as heavy traffic builds up at the Bocaue Southbound Toll Plaza.

In an interview on Dobol B sa News TV, NLEx senior vice president for communication and stakeholder management Romulo Quimbo Jr. said the Bocaue toll exit is experiencing a temporary shortage of manpower.

"May mga tauhan tayo... as of yesterday, meron tayong total ng 78 na naka-quarantine o naka-sick leave," Quimbo said.

The NLEx official said the quarantine notices came at a short notice to their affected employees.

"Naka-quarantine sila because of exposure. Hindi naman nangangahulugan na positive," Quimbo said.

He said it is a mandatory protocol for staff to undergo quarantine if contact-tracing procedures have found that they are exposed to a COVID-19 positive individual.

"Humihingi kami ng paumanhin sa mga motorista na talagang nagugulat na lang at nabubulaga sila sa traffic sa Bocaue," Quimbo said.

In a separate statement, NLEx said that it is only able to open 16 cash toll booths out of 20 at the Bocaue toll plaza.

"We are augmenting the frontliners with back up teams from other plazas and deploying new recruits. To help manage traffic on the ground, we periodically open counterflow lanes for RFID users and maximize deployment of additional patrol crews to assist motorists. A dedicated team of engineers are already on the ground to quickly address problems with RFID," it said.

"We have also ensured that all exclusive RFID lanes and Easytrip tag lanes remain open 24/7 to facilitate contactless and cashless toll payments," it added.

Quimbo also explained that NLEx is still in the process of fully transitioning to RFID system and is addressing technical issues moving forward.—AOL, GMA News