CAGAYAN de Oro City Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya on Thursday, September 26, said he supports the calls to pull out Chinese firms renting the markets but called for an in-depth study as this would mean lower income for the city government.
Nacaya was reacting to the special report of City Councilor Edgar Cabanlas who wanted market spaces be given to the vendors, and not to foreign companies.
Nacaya, who was among those who approved the lease contracts in 2011, said their move to lease out certain floors of Cogon and Carmen markets to Chinese companies was because no vendor wanted to rent the spaces and sell their products upstairs.
He said even now, Cogon market’s third floor is empty, while the second floor still has available spaces.
“The issues and problems then are still the prevailing concerns up until now, walay gasaka sa taas. Mao na ang reason sa previous administration nga gipa-renta na sa foreign,” Nacaya said, who heads the City Economic Enterprise Department (CEED), the office that oversees the city’s public markets.
Nacaya said he stands by his move then to approve the contracts and allow Chinese firms 858 and New Wishing Star Trading Inc. to rent the markets.
“Let’s face the facts,” he added.
Since he assumed the CEED head, all of city’s public markets have an accumulated income of more than P50 million in just 2018, just from the rents.
He said the markets now are self-sustaining and doing well.
“Ako I’m all out nga kuhaon balik sa syudad pero on computations in terms sa financial, let’s review kung advisable ba, let’s study how feasible it is,” he added.
Cabanlas, during the weekly session Monday, insisted that the contracts made by the previous administration were onerous and disadvantageous to the city.
He said vendors are made to pay bigger rental fees than the Chinese companies.
The investigation is set to start next week and will be tackled by the committee of the whole.