30 stalls cleared in Carbon

Close to 30 fish stalls outside the vicinity of the Carbon public market were ordered cleared yesterday dawn by Cebu City Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta.

In an interview, Rupinta said he has been receiving reports from concerned citizens on the foul smell and improper disposal of fish guts and murky water.

“Daghan ning-reklamo ba kay hugaw kaayo. Ato lang sila gipapahawa kay gusto ta mausa lang unta tanang manindahay sa saktong lugar (There were a lot of complaints about the place being dirty. We just asked them to sell in the proper place),” he said.

He clarified that the stalls were not demolished, but cleared out.

The village chief asked the vendors to do their business in the designated vending area to help keep the market clean.

The vendors were reportedly cooperative and did not resist when asked to transfer.

“We did not destroy their stalls, but asked them to transfer. We also want to protect their source of income, but their livelihood should be done in the proper area,” Rupinta said.

SunStar Cebu tried to reach Market Administrator Winifredo Orcullo, but got no response.

Sought for comment, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that Rupinta is entitled to his opinion on the cleanliness of the area.

The mayor, though, said he will have to check if any laws were violated by the clearing operation.

Concerns on who has the authority to collect fees and administer clearing operations within the vicinity of the Carbon public market have been simmering since last month.

This came after it was found that the barangay has been collecting P10 as service fee from around 40 vendors.

Officials and lawyers at City Hall have announced that the City Government will be filing charges against those involved in the alleged illegal collections, since only the Market Authority has the power to supervise and oversee matters involving all public markets in the city.

Rupinta, though, stood pat that what they are doing is legal.

He said they are collecting from ambulant vendors doing business outside the market’s building, and that the accumulated collection is what they use to pay personnel who keep the market area clean. /