DOT delists Mines View; illegal vendors cleared

By Dexter A. See  

BAGUIO CITY – City officials cleared the scenic Mines View Park here of vendors last week after the Dept. of Tourism delisted the site as tourism site. 

Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan ordered the clearing of ambulant vendors in the area after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources approved relocation survey of the park and the city government’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) awarded fencing of the park to the winning contractor.

           

 The city mayor asserted said no ambulant vendors will no longer be allowed to sell products within the park and all business activities must be confined within the 4-storey multipurpose building built by the government to address issues of alleged commercialization of the park as a result of proliferation of businesses that clogged entrance to the viewdeck.

           

“The identification of the metes and bounds of Mines View Park will definitely put an end to the issue of alleged encroachments of businesses and some private individuals to the park, thus, the city government can now implement the long overdue fencing and beautification projects that would help bring back the beauty and scenery of the park,” Domogan stressed.

          

  In 20004, the Department of Tourism delisted Mines View Park from the list of tourist spots in the city because of the alleged proliferation of businesses that have even encroached and clogged the entrance of the park thereby impeding the clear view of the Benguet mines below the viewdeck.

          

  After clearing operations last week, Domogan said the city government will immediately implement the fencing of Mines View Park before it will undertake the P4 million delayed beautification of the park so that it will be brought back to its original stature as a park and not a commercial center as claimed by DOT and to allow it to be included in the list of tourist spots in the city.

           

 He claimed the city and national governments previously pooled its available resources to build the P51 Million Mines View multipurpose building to accommodate all the 209 vendors that were previously censued as those to be relocated in the structure but only 134 vendors were able to initially qualify to be relocated while the remaining number of vendors are still being subjected to screening for determination of their qualifications.

       

     According to Mayor Domogan, the strict implementation of the zero vending policy along sidewalks and parks in the city is in consonance with the marching orders of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III through the Baguio-Boracay Re-development Task Force to clear all public places from ambulant vendors that serve as an eye sore to foreign and domestic visitors.

          

  Mines View Park is located in the eastern part of the Summer Capital and is one of the most frequented tourist spots because of the astonishing view of the mines located in the nearby town of Itogon, Benguet when visitors are standing in the viewdeck established for the purpose of having a clear view of the mine sites.

            Domogan appealed to ambulant vendors who continue to sell their products within the park to apply for the available stalls in the business and trade center and not await the enforcement of anti-peddling laws and regulations by the city’s anti-peddling task force as the local government continues to improve the entry points of the building and its promotion to visiting foreign and domestic tourists.