THE drainage system will be the priority section of the P17-million Cogon market rehabilitation project which will start in January next year, a city official said.
"Unahon gyud ang drainage kay grabe ang baha diha labina kung mag-ulan (Drainage should be prioritized first because there's heavy flooding when it rains)," City Economic Enterprise Department (CEED) and Cogon market officer-in-charge Rodulfo Yana said in an interview.
Yana declined to state the specific budget for the drainage system.
A kiosk intended for collection will also be installed to save time and effort for taxpayers so they can pay their dues at Cogon market instead of going to the City Hall.
As part of the preparation, a CEED team and a group of vendors went on a trip to Maramag, Bukidnon, early this week to see firsthand its market which is known for its cleanliness, standard design and discipline of its vendors.
"Ang nakagwapo sa design sa Maramag, tagsa-tagsa ka building ang each section so grabe gyud kaayo kaplastar (What's good in Maramag is each sections has its own building so its placed well0," he said.
"The Maramag market is for us, a model market, with our planned rehabilitation coming our way, we wanted to get ideas from cities having this set-up. Nagdala pud mi ug mga vendors para mapakita nila unsa kadako ang role sa vendors sa pag-maintain sa development sa usa ka market, apil na siyempre ang cleanliness (We also sent vendors so we can show them how big their roles are in maintaining the development of a market including its cleanliness)," Yana said.
CEED chief executive officer Rocky Calingin said he is hopeful that the vendors would learn from the educational trip, that with cooperation, the rehabilitation of the market would be a success.
Based on the initial plan designed by the engineering division of CEED, the food and snack section will be placed in the food court.
The City Government's intention to overhaul all public markets in Cagayan de Oro City is aimed at making these public markets competitive with big malls and grocery stores.