The Cebu City Hall is set to demolish the stalls along Lapu-Lapu Street due to complaints it received from the public.
But out of the 52 vendors, only 15 will be given relocation site by the city government at the vacant lot near the city abattoir at the North Reclamation Area.
This after the Market Operation Division learned that out of the 52, only 29 have stalls and are actually occupying the area. However, during investigation, only 15 of the 29 are residents and registered voters of the city.
“Our mayor has a policy that he would always prioritize those who are residents and voters of the city,” said city market administrator Racquel Arce.
She said that her office is now preparing the demolition order to have it signed by Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
But she said they could not enforce the demolition order unless the relocation site is ready to be occupied by the vendors.
At present, she said that the city is only collecting P6 a day as toll fee from the vendors who are mostly makers and suppliers of body accessories.
Once they are relocated near SM City, Arce said that the city would start collecting P50 per day plus additional P1 for the garbage from the stall owners.
She said that they are now trying to determine the exact area of the relocation site and the approximate area expected to be occupied by the vendors who were the ones who recommended the place as where to relocate them.
“We have an order from the mayor that only half of the area is to be occupied by the vendors since there are only 15 of them who would be relocated there,” Arce said. — Wenna A. Berondo/LPM