New Puerto Princesa public market eyes December completion
The Puerto Princesa City government is targeting to complete the P190-million new public market at the bay area in December this year. City information officer Richard Ligad said the construction of the facility started after the groundbreaking on January 9. “Start na siya [kino-construct] actually ngayon and hopefully, matapos by December. Mai-expect nila [ng ating mga kababayan] ‘ yong komportableng pamilihang bayan na (It has started construction actually now, and hopefully, it will be finished in December. They can expect that it will be a comfortable public market),” Ligad said. Aries Grande, assistant city engineer, told Palawan News that the Manila-based Square Meter Trading and Construction Corporation (SMTCC), is the contractor of the project. Grande said their team inspected two of the markets built by the contractor and were convinced of its work. “Tiningnan namin, okay naman. Basically, mas maganda ‘yong kanilang palengke compared dito sa existing natin. Hopefully, ‘yon ang maidala natin sa bagong market natin (We visited, and they’re ok. Basically, their public markets are better compared to our existing. Hopefully, we can bring the same concept to our new market),” he said. The ground floor of the proposed public market will have 482 stalls for the fish, grain, shell, and meat sections, including rentable booths. The second floor, on the other hand, will have 670 stalls for fruits, vegetable, dairy products, bilao (circular basket), delicatessen, and dry goods sections. Grande also said the second floor will be open for lease. “Ang building footprint niya ay nasa 3,700 square meters. ‘Yong [lupa] na intended sa palengke halos nasa 2.8 hectares. Pinag-uusa- pan namin ng contractor na at least before Christmas sana matapos para ‘yan ang pamasko natin sa mga taga-Puerto Princesa,” Grande said. (It’s building footprint is 3,700 square meters. The land intended for the public market is almost 2.8 hectares. We’re talking to the contractor now, hoping it’ll be completed before Christmas so it will be our gift to the residents of Puerto Princesa.)