The Cebu City Market Operations Division conducts their regular inspection at the Carbon Market. | Photo Courtesy of the Cebu City PIO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Market Operations Division (MOD) plans to limit the entry of market-goers at certain portions of the Carbon Market from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
MOD head Irvin Cabales said that the F. Gonzales Street and Plaridel Street portions of the market are usually crowded around the 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily because it is the time when goods arrive and vendors lay their products in the area.
This causes foot traffic to be heavy in the two streets and chances of violating social distancing becomes high.
In order to prevent this, the MOD has devised a plan to limit the movement of the people in the streets for a period of time in a day so vendors can get their products in without fear of violating health protocols.
Primarily, they made the entrance of the goods and karumatas earlier at 2 p.m. to allow ample time for the carts to pass to and fro the streets.
From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., the two streets will be strictly monitored by MOD personnel and the police. Consumers getting inside the streets will be limited so as to avoid crowding.
“Kana gyod mga orasa, mao sad nay time nga mangabot gyod ang mga karumata. Magandam pa man na sila. Kasagaran pud, maabot na ang mga mamalit ig alas kwatro na,” said Cabales.
After 4 p.m., when all the goods are laid and the karumatas have settled down, the movement of consumers will be back to normal as well.
Cabales said they met with vendors to discuss these plans and they agreed to test it in the next few days. The vendors understand that their livelihoods depend on their capability to adjust to these changes.
The MOD head said that the vendors do not want a reimposition of the name-coding scheme or the limited entry schemes as before because they struggled to keep profits then.
In exchange, they committed to help maintain the health protocols in the Carbon Market and to go as far as experimenting with ways to keep the market safe.
Cabales is confident that this new scheme will work with the cooperation of the vendors and the consumers alike.
/bmjo
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