BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio City Market Authority (BCMA) will schedule a series of consultations with the over one thousand night market vendors doing nightly business activities along the 500-meter stretch of Harrison road to disseminate the new rules that it adopted for the sustained operation of the night market.
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan recognized the important contribution of the night market to the robust growth of the local tourism industry considering that it is one of the most visited areas by visitors, both foreign and local, and it is also contributing to the coffers of the local government in terms of added income.
“We will conduct the needed consultations with our night market vendors for them to be fully aware of the new rules and regulations that are now being implemented by the BCMA. We do not want that we will be accused of failing to appropriately disseminate the new rules to them that is why we will schedule the meetings with them in the coming weeks,”Domogan stressed.
Earlier, the night market vendors submitted a petition to the BCMA questioning some of the provisions of the new rules adopted by the BCMA, Saying that the increase in the fees to be charged by the local government from them for other services aside from their daily dues are reportedly excessive and that the rules for the transfer of available slots to other walk-in vendors should be more considerate to their plight.
Domogan revealed the operation of the night market is contributing some P1.2 to P1.4 million in added income to the city daily that is why the issues and concerns of the vendors doing business in the said area should be effectively and efficiently addressed by the concerned offices to sustain the operation of the night market.
According to him, there is a need for concerned city hall offices to constantly talk to the night market vendors to get their concerns on how to further improve the operation of one of the tourist attractions in the city to help policy-makers and decision-makers to formulate appropriate rules and regulations that will conform with the prevailing trend of the times.
While the local government is studying the possibility of relocating the site of the night market to the perimeter of the Melvin Jones grandstand in order to free Harrison Road from being closed to vehicular traffic every night, the local chief executive said it is important for city officials to listen to the issues and concerns raised by the legitimate vendors and address such concerns to further improve the situation in the night market venue.
He added those who want to file complaints against erring vendors, presidents of the associations doing business in the night market or the members of the Public Order and Safety Division (POSD) should be brave enough to identify those involved in anomalies in the night market and that their identities will remain confidential.
He called on the public to continue patronizing the operation of the night market because it continues to be one of the city’s crowd drawer and economic driver vis-à-vis the various issues and concerns being raised which were the subject of previous investigations initiated by the concerned offices of the city that turned out to be unsubstantiated by the appropriate pieces of evidence by those filing the complaints.
By Dexter A. See
