Market security proposal referred to budget committee

CEBU, Philippines -  Market Administrator Raquel Arce’s proposal for the city to hire 36 private security personnel to guard the six public markets of the city has been referred to the City Council’s budget and finance committee because the project needs a P6 million budget.

Arce proposed that six private security guards will be assigned to each of the Freedom Park Market, Pasil Fish Market, Ramos Market, Taboan Market, and Unit 1 and Unit 2 of the Carbon Public Market during the whole year period.

With six security guards, every eight hours shift will have two guards who will be rendering duty in each of the six markets. Arce did not explain why she did not propose to assign guards in other public markets like those in Pardo and T. Padilla.

The proposed contract of services for each of the security guards per shift every month is P14,029 that is why the city needs to spend P6,060,545 for the 36 guards during the 12-month period.

Mayor Michael Rama approved Arce’s proposal to charge the expenses against the market’s Monthly Operating and Other Expenses (MOOE).

Arce explained that she wants to secure the city’s public markets by assigning private security guards as what other major cities in Luzon did.

There was a plan to fence the public markets in Cebu City and to prohibit the stallholders from staying in the market.

Arce said she will not allow public markets to be converted into residential houses like what some of the stallholders did in Freedom Park and in other markets of the city.

While some vendors converted their market stalls as their quarters, some unscrupulous vendors are also reportedly pilfering electricity which resulted to the city’s high electric consumption.  (FREEMAN)