Night market improves / Spaghetti wires in Baguio

CITY HALL BEAT

Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – Improvements have been observed in the city’s night market operations with the introduction of sanitation and safety facilities earlier required of the 1,067 vendors with slots at the lucrative business and tourist hub.

City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Pena in the Sept. 10 Management Committee (Mancom) meeting reported to Mayor Benjamin Magalong that the stall grantees have started to comply with the requirements set by the City Health Services Office under Dr. Rowena Galpo and the city in general.

He said that per inspection done, 12 units of portable lavatory with faucet are regularly installed to ensure cleanliness especially for stalls serving food, one of the favorite come-ons of the operation.

They have also provided fire extinguishers of one unit per four stalls as a safeguard against fire.

Dela Pena noted that the food stalls have installed canopies with uniform color that made their lot presentable.

He said that in the next two weeks they expect other stalls to follow suit and adopt canopy color coding that would distinguish their products from one another.

The city earlier decided to adopt a status quo on the night market activity with the mayor appealing to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to allow the continued use of the 500-meter portion of Harrison Road despite the department’s earlier notice for them to vacate the public thoroughfare.

Dela Pena said that the improvement of the night market is part of the 15-point core agenda of the city government.

City market superintendent Fernando Ragma earlier said the night market operation has been contributing around P1.5 million monthly to the city coffers.

It has also evolved into one of the favorite tourist attractions in the city.

The operations began in the City in 2010 with the intention to help itinerant vendors displaced when the city banned selling at the sidewalks and other unauthorized places and curb illegal vending altogether.

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The long-standing problem on the perilous and unsightly public utility “spaghetti wires” is now being effectively addressed.

City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Pena reported to the Management Committee (Mancom) meeting with Mayor Benjamin Magalong last Sept. 10 the visibly improved condition of the utility cables along Magsaysay Avenue owing to the round-the-clock work being rendered by the telecommunication and utility companies led by the Benguet Electric Cooperative Inc. (BENECO).

Dela Pena assessed that the spaghetti wire fixing project which covers the whole stretch of Magsasay Avenue up to Session Roadhas has attained a 60 percent completion. 

The city earlier gave the companies until Sept. 7 to fix the problem but agreed to extend the deadline for another week because of the continuing rains that pose danger and hamper the fast-tracking job.

The companies adopted the one-pole policy where BENECO puts up 70-foot poles to which other utility companies will connect under joint pole agreements. 

The same scheme will also be applied in other areas of the city where dangling wires serve as eyesores and fire and accident hazards.

Dela Pena said allowances will be given to companies asking for more time to comply due to the high costs and inavailability of materials needed and pending upgrading projects involving contracts with clients.

It will be recalled that the BENECO earlier submitted a proposal to relocate lines underground as a permanent solution to the dangling wire problem.

The said proposal is now being studied by the city council.