The Dumaguete City Council will assess the problem of "paunay" or market vendors who complained of very low income after their transfer from Sta. Rosa Street to Barangay Bajumpandan.

At the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, paunay vendors asked for consideration from the city government that they be allowed back in Sta. Rosa.

Estrella Grape, a vendor said only few customers come to Bajumpandan because of its distance from the city proper. Some of their vegetables rot because no customers are buying their products, she said.

But city enterprise officer Jose Ronnie Fortin said they are hitting two birds with one stone in transferring the Paunay from Sta. Rosa Street to Barangay Bajumpandan, about 3 kilometers from the public market.

Aside from legitimate farmers who are bringing their farm products, livestocks also start to find their way to the new paunay site, he said.

Fortin said residents of Sta. Rosa complained to his office about the sanitation problem with the paunay vendors.

Fortin said he decided to transfer the paunay to Bajumpandan and equip it with comfort rooms, water connection, and enough lights.

The "paunay" started at the former Legaspi Street in 1984, but was transferred to Sta. Rosa Street because of complaints from commercial establishments.

Ordinance No. 7, series of 1999 regulates the operation of the "paunay" prohibiting middlemen and allowing only legitimate farmers to display their goods.

Vice Mayor William Ablong said he prefers the Paunay in its former location because it has connection to the main market. Ablong said if sanitation was a problem in its former location, transferring it is not the solution.*JG/MA

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