The Bacolod Vendors Plaza Dry Goods Association yesterday condemned the continuing closure of the Bacolod Vendor's Plaza and the apparent lack of action by the city government to resolve the issues.

A press statement from the group said the Vendor's Plaza has been closed for more than a year now and yet no solutions have been offered. It said that when the facility, worth, P12 million, was closed last year, Mayor Evelio Leonardia promised to re-install the vendors after assessing the situation of the Vendor's Plaza.

The statement said the Vendor's Plaza and Jeepney Terminal were established to address the problems of illegal vending and traffic congestion in the city. Its principal beneficiaries, therefore, are the vendors in the downtown area who are often blamed for the traffic congestions. It said only Secretary to the Mayor Roger Balo and Councilor Napoleon Cordova, chairman of the Committee on Markets, were present during a recent meeting on the plight of the vendors.

Permit and Licencing head Ardis Jaculina yesterday said the problem of the vendors is that most of them have no business permits. She said there is policy that they could not get a business permit unless they pay their arrearages with the city.

Jaculina said there is also a recent policy decision that they should pay their business permits first while their arrearages will be collected later. She said most of their blocks or stalls have been closed except for one or two, since they have not complied with the payment of a business permit and business permit taxes.

City Administrator Lorendo Dilag had said the blocks or stalls at the Vendor's Plaza have never been awarded to them.*CGS

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