Labella vows not to dump Carbon market vendors

CARBON CALLING. The Carbon Public Market in Cebu City attracts several people who want to buy inexpensive products; it also beckons lowly people who want to eke out a living for their families, just like these two men in the photo who are pushing their carts toward their respective stalls. The management of SM Supermarkets recently proposed to Mayor Edgardo Labella that it would build a modern market building in the area. (SunStar photo / Alex Badayos)
CARBON CALLING. The Carbon Public Market in Cebu City attracts several people who want to buy inexpensive products; it also beckons lowly people who want to eke out a living for their families, just like these two men in the photo who are pushing their carts toward their respective stalls. The management of SM Supermarkets recently proposed to Mayor Edgardo Labella that it would build a modern market building in the area. (SunStar photo / Alex Badayos)

CEBU City Mayor Edgardo Labella assured that not a single vendor would be abandoned if Carbon Public Market would be transformed by SM, the biggest operator of malls and supermarkets in the country.

The local chief executive made his promise after the City received a proposal from SM Supermarket management, which is keen on improving the market’s state by modernizing it.

Labella assured that the existing stall holders in Carbon’s three units would be the first ones to be accommodated.

Carbon Public Market is the oldest and largest public market in Cebu City. It is located at M.C. Briones Street in Barangay Ermita.

Erwin Gok-ong Sr., chairman of Cebu Market Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Cemvedco), said he was surprised after learning that SM’s proposal was entertained by Labella.

He said the mayor’s 10-point agenda include the completion of Carbon Market’s unit two.

“We are hoping anang kausaban kay kausaban sa kalambuan (that the change he is referring to is for the better). We are banking on the promise of Mayor Labella that his government is inclusive,” Gok-ong said.

To allay vendors’ fears, Labella said the rental rates that the vendors would be paying would still be the same. Current stall holders are paying the City P1,000 rental fee every month.

Labella further said he would not allow SM to sell products that would compete with the stall holders’ existing products such as meat, vegetables, fruit and fish, among others.

The mayor said SM would not be paying rent, but it would be the one to spend for the construction of a modern market.

In the proposal, SM plans to construct a three-story supermarket. The first floor would house the stalls; second floor, the parking area; and the third floor, loading and unloading of goods.

The structure would rise on the two-hectare lot. It would replace the current unit one where the meat and sea products are sold; unit two, which is still under construction; and unit three where fruits are stationed.

The City would still run the facility. It would still collect business taxes and other regulatory fees from SM, and the City would still own the building and the lot, said Labella.

If the proposal pushes through, Labella said the public could expect a market in a modern facility. Carbon’s heritage would remain.

“I will assure the public that it will be a modern facility and I will retain the old heritage of Carbon as an institution public market,” he said.

Cemvedco welcomes any development involving Carbon market, but Gok-ong wants the City and SM to include them in their consultations.

Some vendors, he said, lack the resources and they could start from scratch again if Carbon market would go on a mall-type operation.

On Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019, Gok-ong and other officials of Cemvedco will visit the SM Marketmall in Dasmariñas, Cavite to meet with the stakeholders there so they will know about the operations and management in such kind of set-up.

Cebu City United Vendors Association chairperson Maria Pino also urged the City to include all the stakeholders, not just the stall holders inside the market, in the future consultation meetings. (JJL)

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