By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA
Bacolod City Administrator Mark Steven Mayo urged around 90 roadside vendors to now occupy their stalls and display their products inside the Libertad Public Market Annex Building.
Mayo said the city government has already turned over the stalls on the annex building’s ground floor to at least 90 vendors.
At least 100 stalls on the second floor have not yet been formally turned over to the vendors.
A meeting will be held to finalize the awarding of the stalls.
Mayo also said the stalls had previously been raffled off to various vendors, but the turnover was never formally completed.
On Wednesday, July 1, at least 40 individuals occupying the annex building’s second floor were evicted by the Bacolod City Legal Office’s (CLO) enforcement team.
CLO enforcement team leader Levy Pangue said the operation was launched following alarming reports from the Libertad Market Vendors Association that stalls awarded to vendors were being used as storage areas, while several had been converted into makeshift dwellings and sites of alleged illegal activities.
“Garbage was found everywhere, and we were informed that some stalls converted into makeshift houses had become havens for illegal drug use,” Pangue added.
Following the clearing operation, the Bacolod Environment and Natural Resources Office and the City Administrator’s Office immediately began cleanup efforts and scheduled a massive flushing operation on Friday, July 3.
Pangue noted that the sanitation drive aims to address the overwhelming stench caused by human waste, accumulated garbage, and severe pest infestations that have rendered the area a public health hazard.
Moreover, Mayo said the annex building has been placed under temporary closure.
Market superintendent Theresa Robles and market supervisor Cherry Aujero will meet with stall awardees who are currently vending along nearby streets.
“They will be instructed to occupy their assigned stalls inside the building or risk having their stall allocations revoked and raffled off to other qualified vendors,” Mayo said.
The city government rehabilitated and repaired the annex building in 2019 to accommodate vendors displaced by road clearing operations at the Libertad Public Market.
However, most of the affected vendors refused to occupy their stalls in the annex building due to concerns about poor foot traffic, which they said resulted in lower daily incomes./MAP, WDJ