The Carbon Public Market in Cebu City. | CDN Digital File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The first day of disallowing the entry of private vehicles inside the Carbon Public Market complex in Cebu City on Monday, March 22, went smoothly, said Market Operations Division head Irvin Cabales.
However, several vendors, stall owners, and managers of private establishments that are located inside the market complex are requesting law enforcers to allow their cars to access the area.
Cebu City officials and police decided to impose additional policies at the Carbon Public Market, the city’s largest wet market, to ensure that the observance of minimum health standards still prevail as the Holy Week draws near.
Aside from temporarily banning private vehicles inside the market’s interior roads, they also trimmed down the number of entry points.
“The policies took effect at 12:01 a.m. today (March 22) and as of 10 a.m. this morning, we really observed a great improvement in crowd flow inside Carbon,” said Cabales in Cebuano.
But Cabales said some of Carbon’s vendors, stall owners, and private establishment operators wanted their cars to be exempted from the new policy.
“We (MOD) understood the plight of our vendors and owners of private establishments in Carbon. This is also why we are asking the CCPO (Cebu City Police Office) to allow their vehicles inside Carbon but for drop-off only,” he added.
The MOD chief also said the city government, together with the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO), is looking for temporary parking areas to accommodate marketgoers heading for Carbon. /dcb
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