City markets to take after those in Metro Manila

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Assistant Administrator for Economic Enterprise Dominic Diño eyes a parking space, set market hours and cleaner surroundings as a long-term plan for the Carbon Market Complex.

These are just some of the features of the markets in three cities in Luzon that the market authority and market supervisors recently visited for a three-day benchmarking activity the other week.

Diño, Market Administrator Racquel Arce, two support staff and five market supervisors visited five markets in the cities of Batangas, Marikina and Pasay to identify best practices in the way these local government units are managing their markets.

It is part of the preparation for the renovation and other development plans for the Carbon Market Complex which covers the Carbon Units I, II and III, Warwick Barracks and Freedom Park.

Diño said that the trip gave them many ideas that may be applied to the markets here.

For instance in Batangas City, the LGU divided the wet and dry sections of the market. It was also able to maintain sanitation at all times.

“Dili sad init sa ilaha because of proper ventilation. They also have an area like a food court where consumers may eat. Di pareha sa atua na katag-katag ang mga kan-anan,” he said.

In Marikina, Diño said, there is a weekly cleaning to maintain cleanliness. After the cleaning, sanitizer is sprayed all over the area to avoid contamination of dry and wet goods.

“They collect the garbage every two hours and you cannot see vendors obstructing the sidewalk. They observe market hours so they will have time for the cleaning,” he said.

“Disiplinado sad ang mga tawo didto. Mao ni among gusto ipakita sa atong vendors association,” he added.

Pasay City converted its Public Market into a two-storey city mall.

Diño said that most of the markets they discovered are secured by blue guards to discourage crimes such as snatching and stealing.

“We are consolidating suggestions and inputs to identify which plan would best suit what we want for our markets,” he said.

Among the areas they are studying is the benefit of privatizing the operations of the market or departmentalizing the market administration office.

There were numerous proposals from investors for a Build-Operate-Transfer arrangement for Carbon.

“We are still studying the possibility of privatizing the market. Or make it a department aron self-liquidating na sya. Right now, market operations are under the office of the City Administrator,” Diño said. — /BRP (FREEMAN)