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Aging Office to continue Call-A-Ride program
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Posted on Nov 26 2005
The Office on Aging will continue to operate the Call-A-Ride program even as the three-month timeframe it gave itself to run the service has lapsed.
Aging Office director Joseph Palacios said his office would still operate the service that benefits most of his clients. Despite some minimal setbacks on this operation, Palacios said he remains positive about the program.
Palacios admitted he is quite worried about its future and whether it again should be ran by a private company or not.
However, he is enthusiastic that the advent of public mass transportation in the CNMI would solve all his woes.
Palacios earlier said that the Aging Center would take over the Call-A-Ride operations for only two to three months, just to ensure that regular service to its clients would not be interrupted.
The Call-A-Ride service, which reached its end of operations with Pacific Development Inc. last September, was transferred to the Office on Aging early October. However, the start of the Aging Office’s operation of the program encountered a minor glitch when the insurance of the service’s lone operating vehicle expired the same day it was transferred.
Until the Council for Developmental Disabilities finds another private business entity to handle its operations, the Aging Center will have to ferry clients with disabilities around Saipan, Palacios earlier said.
Three private entities have reportedly pending proposals for the program and a decision has yet to come about the program’s transfer. CDD executive director Antonio Chong earlier said there are 200 people who benefit from the Call-A-Ride program every month.
He said that PDI spent some $9,000 a month on personnel, fuel, and maintenance to sustain the service. This monthly expense would be up due to the high fuel costs at this time, he added.
PDI notified the council early September that it would stop providing transportation service to people with disabilities as part of its contingency plan for Japan Airline’s withdrawal.
