BACOLOD City Executive Assistant Jose Maria Vargas will hold a meeting with the market supervisors on Wednesday, March 13, to ensure the fire safety compliance of stall owners in three major public markets in the city.
Vargas, cluster head for disaster management, said on Tuesday, March 12, that the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) will inspect the fire safety compliance of stall owners at Burgos, Central and Libertad markets to prevent fire accidents.
“We should be ready and prepared to avoid what happened in the Manapla public market where a fire destroyed 65 blocks and damaged an estimate of P58 million worth of properties,” he said.
He added that it’s the responsibility of the market supervisors to monitor the compliance of the stall owners.
DRRMO and BFP will also review the law on how to regulate the refilling of butane canisters with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) inside the public markets.
“We will check the legal basis if we can confiscate the butane canisters displayed in public markets because these are illegal and dangerous,” Vargas said.
The City Government is also planning to rehabilitate the electrical connections inside the three major public markets.
Councilor Bartolome Orola, chairperson of the City Council committee on markets, already tasked the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) to inspect the electrical connections in these markets to prevent fire incidents.
The CEO was directed to ensure that there will be no illegal electrical connections inside the public markets. (MAP)