Sunday, July 08, 2007 Mayor revives use of Burnham Park for vending By Rimaliza Opiña
BAGUIO City Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. revived an earlier proposal to use the idle lot between the children's playground and orchidarium in the Burnham Park as temporary vending site for peddlers.
This is pending the approval by the Baguio City Council of the proposed flea market.
Bautista said the plan is in consonance with the proposed decongestion of the central business district and market from itinerant vendors.
In the comprehensive development plan of the Burnham Park, the area was identified as site for the holding of extreme sports, construction of a graffiti wall, and a biking area.
The plan has not been implemented pending review and approval by the City Council.
Josephine Chan, a former head of the Burnham Park Management Authority (BPMA), earlier objected to the proposal, saying the relocation of vendors to the site might lead to its destruction. She added that transferring the vendors at a time when development is implemented might not come easy.
But Baguio Councilor Perlita Chan-Rondez, chairperson of the City Council committee on tourism, holds a different view.
If there is an assurance that vending in the area is only temporary, Rondez said she sees no reason not to approve the plan. At the most, she suggested a three-month use of the site.
Although admitting that parks should be beyond the commerce of man, Rondez pointed out that there are commercial establishments at the park that have been conducting businesses in the area for a long time now.
She stressed that to avoid further entry of businesses to Burnham, zoning of existing commercial establishments has to be strictly imposed and complied with, and only those that have been previously surveyed as regular vendors at the park would be relocated at the site of the former auditorium.
