City to relocate "ukay-ukay" vendors inside Pardo market

CEBU, Philippines - Ambulant vendors selling used clothes or “ukay-ukay” by the road near the Pardo Public Market will be made to occupy the second and third floors of the market to decongest road traffic in the area, the Cebu City Market Authority said yesterday.

Market Administrator Raquel Arce said the vendors previously occupying the second and third floors of the three-story market have abandoned their stalls because they have not been earning much, as only a few customers go up the upper floors.

Former mayor Tomas Osmeña had decided to utilize the two floors to house additional classrooms for the Pardo Elementary School, but the floors again became vacant when the school started using its new building.

City veterinarian Alice Utlang, a member of the market authority, was the one who proposed to allow the ukay-ukay vendors to occupy the vacant floors, as their presence along the road have impeded traffic.

City Administrator Jose Poblete, the head of the market authority, inspected the building personally last week.

In a separate development, Poblete said a private company is interested to construct the building for Unit 2 of the Carbon market and plans to include separate buildings for the Freedom and Warwick Barracks markets in the project.

Poblete said he will suggest to Mayor Michael Rama to include the market authority in the discussions for the proposal.

Rama already asked President Benigno Aquino III to help the city reconstruct the market building that burned down sometime in 1988. –  (FREEMAN)