Task Force Discipline members inspect the Osmeña Boulevard stretch from Capitol to Plaza Independencia — the area where the Discipline Zones will be implemented.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
REPRESENTATIVES of a Cebu City task force will meet next week with vendors associations affected by the implementation of the Discipline Zone, which will also be imposed next week.
Genevieve Alcoseba, Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) officer, said they would discuss relocation among other things.
“We will meet with the vendors to talk about their relocation. It’s better if they suggest first where to be relocated so that we can conduct a study in the area to check if it’s feasible or not,” said Alcoseba amid the information campaign conducted by the Cebu City Task Force Discipline on the start of the implementation of the Discipline Zone, which would involve clearing sidewalks of major thoroughfares in the city from obstructions in preparation for the Christmas season and the Sinulog Festival in January next year.
A walk through by members of Task Force Discipline from the stretch of the Capitol to Plaza Independencia was done yesterday.
Raquel Arce, Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification, Enhancement (Probe) team head, said that the task force warned sidewalk vendors on both sides of Osmeña Boulevard to clear out before Monday, the start of the Discipline Zone implementation.
Probe was among the members of the task force that inspected the sidewalks along Osmeña Boulevard.
The task force included police officers from the Fuente Police Station, DWUP, City Traffic Operations and Management (Citom) and Councilor Dave Tumulak, deputy mayor for police matters.
During the walk through, Arce said that all vendors including those with temporary approval to do business in the sidewalks were asked to clear the area.
Arce, however, said that those with temporary approval from the city would be relocated while those who do not have the temporary approval have been told to stop their business there or they would be forcibly removed from these areas.
“We asked them to vacate the area in preparation of the huge crowd for Sinulog and Christmas. The areas we identify are called ‘Discipline Zones’ where all city ordinances pertaining to crowd control, traffic, cleanliness, and safety must be strictly observed. It also includes the no jaywalking and no vandalizing policies,” Arce said.
Byanito Libaton, 45, who sells bottled water and beverages under the skywalk in Osmeña Boulevard, said he would stop selling in the area but he asked that he be relocated to another area where he could sell his goods.
Aside from stall vendors, owners of larger business establishments were warned by Task Force Discipline that any vehicle caught parking on the sidewalks this Monday will be either clamped or towed.
Arce said our work in the Discipline Zones would be done in phases.
“Phase 1, our scope is from Capitol Building to R.R. Landon Street in Brgy. Sambag II, then Phase 2 from R.R. Landon to D. Jakosalem Street, and finally Phase 3 from D. Jakosalem Street to Plaza Independencia,” she said.