The Bacolod City government would like to put order in the markets and now is the chance to come up with a major market in the city that is properly managed, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said yesterday.

Leonardia said the assessment of the Vendor's Plaza was done way before and it is on record that the markets are being subsidized by the city. "So this our chance to come up with a major market in the city that is properly managed," he said. If this endeavor becomes a success then we would like to make it a model for other markets, he added.

Leonardia said this is the time to put things in order because all the occupants have no valid awards. However, they will be given due process, he added. The city is willing to accept applications from the vendors but they have to go through a process in order for the city to screen the eventual occupants, Leonardia said. "We want to ensure that whatever problems had occurred before in the Vendor's Plaza and the other markets will not happen again," he added.

City Administrator Lorendo Dilag said the Market Committee, which he chairs, acceded to the request of Vice Mayor Renecito Novero to hold in abeyance the closure of the remaining 20 percent of the blocks or stalls at the Vendor's Plaza on Jan. 18. He said the Market Committee instructed him to write Novero informing him that the three days grace period he had asked for to allow the occupants to vacate the premises had already expired. The committee also passed a resolution reiterating and enforcing the previous resolutions it had passed concerning the temporary closure of the Vendor's Plaza, he said.

Dilag said the Market Committee will meet today for a final assessment of the situation at the Vendor's Plaza.*CGS

back to top