By Mae Singuay

The Bacolod City Local Market Committee (LMC) will consider the status of 19 fish vendors who failed to avail stalls at the Central Market on Wednesday, September 27.

City administrator Pacifico Maghari III said 104 vendor names were included on the masterlist for the raffle on September 22, but only 90 stalls are available.

“So there were 14 vendors that left no stalls, and added also the five that were not included in the masterlist due to unsettled accounts in the city. It made a total of 19 of them,” Maghari said.

The five vendors have incurred arrears ranging from P80,000 to P100,000 in 2016.

Maghari said they now have a proposed location for the 19 vendors, but subject to LMC and Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez’s approval.

The stall raffle was conducted after the renovation of the Central Market.

The vendors temporarily utilized Bonifacio Street while the market underwent renovation.

They will be transferred inside the market by next month.

However, Maghari is not sure if Bonifacio Street will be used as a venue for the night market, considering the traffic congestion in the area.

Meanwhile, Benitez said there is a plan to rehabilitate the Burgos and Libertad markets.

This, after he noticed that most market stalls were closed during noontime.

Benitez said some vendors do not want to sell inside the market because there are no buyers anymore.

He added this concern must be addressed by rehabilitating the markets and putting up the stalls where most buyers commonly go./MS, WDJ