By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA

A public hearing will be held in July on the proposed establishment of a public market in Bacolod City’s Barangay Alijis, as the city government aims to address the concerns of vendors occupying the Asenso Market.

Councilor Dindo Ramos said that, while the city council targets to complete the public hearing process, a substantial amount of funding is needed for the proposed new public market.

“It’s either the city government or the national government that will provide funding for the implementation of the project,” Ramos added.

He said Alijis village chief Deogracias de la Vega identified the sites for the new market, such as near the Bacolod Girls Home and a memorial park.

Ramos said he had already asked De La Vega to begin negotiations for the identified lots so that the implementation of the project could start.

On June 1, the City Legal Office (CLO) served demand letters, or notices to vacate, to 27 stall owners at the Asenso Market.

CLO head Karol Joseph Chiu earlier said they had sent a letter to De La Vega directing him to remove 51 permanent stalls in the area.

Chiu said that some tenants were occupying more than two market stalls.

However, the Sangguniang Panlungsod approved a 90-day occupancy extension, allowing the vendors to continue operating in the area.

“They are a large barangay, but they do not have a public market,” he said.

De la Vega earlier explained that the vendors occupy the sidewalk, not the main road.

He said most of them came from Bangga Cory, where they had been displaced by the construction of a new building.

“To help them continue their livelihood, we allowed them to use the sidewalk in Barangay Alijis,” he said./MAP, WDJ