BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
The renovation of the Bacolod South Public Market at Libertad Street is now underway as the City Engineer’s Office has already completed its program of work, Executive Assistant Ernie Pineda told the DAILY STAR yesterday.
Although he did not mention the budget for the renovation of one of the three markets of Bacolod, Pineda said the plan includes the improvement of its annex building to accommodate at least 250 vendors.
He said that, based on the inventory conducted by the City Administrator’s Office, there are 250 vendors along Amelia and Mercedes Streets near the South Public Market who have been displaced because of the road clearing operations undertaken by the city government.
Pineda added that based on the plan, concrete tables will be set up with no dividers at the ground floor so that the goods will be visible to the market-goers from the outside.
While the completion of the renovation of the South Public Market is expected to be finished within the year, the repair of the North and Central public markets are yet to be announced as sufficient budget is needed.
Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said earlier that the city’s public markets need immediate repair since they are dilapidated and old, adding that, in fact, these markets were built more or less 50 years ago.
NIGHT MARKET PROPOSAL
Meanwhile, Pineda said that the night market proposal for the displaced vendors at the Bacolod downtown due to road clearing operations is still in limbo because many of them refuse to transfer at the Vendor’s Plaza near the SM City mall.
He said that he made a proposal to allow the vendors to sell their goods along Bonifacio and Gonzaga streets but its approval depends on the Department of Interior and Local Government.*