CEBU CITY — Some vendors at the Carbon Public Market have embarked on a two-day rally to protest the ongoing modernization of the 90-year-old market.
From Monday to Tuesday (Jan. 24-25), members of the Movement Against Carbon Market Privatization (MACMP) will be staging a protest rally to oppose their eventual transfer to the Interim Structure in Unit II.
“Mag-strike kaming mga manindahay isip pagpakita nga kami hugot gihapon ang pagbatok ug pagbabag sa scheduled nga pagbalhin kanamo didto sa Interim Structure sa Unit II (We vendors will go on strike to show that we are firmly against and will oppose our scheduled transfer to the Interim Structure of Unit 2),” the group said in a statement.
The protest rally will be from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The group also accused the city’s Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement (PROBE) team of threatening some vendors that they will not be prioritized once modernization will be completed.
Megawide, through its subsidiary Cebu2World (C2W), assured that there will be no irregularities in moving the vendors to the Interim Building where they will be provided with the proper facilities.
“The movement of vendors to the Interim Building is a win for the true owners of Carbon - the Cebuano public who have clamored for a safe, secure, and more efficient market especially as the COVID health crisis continues,” C2W said in a statement.
“The new facility will address the concerns of the Cebuano public on cleanliness, security, and convenience, which are among the top reasons why so many of them stopped going to Carbon regularly and instead choose supermarkets despite our low prices,” they added.
Civil works has already started for the modernization of the market.
A regional trial recently dismissed a petition for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between the Cebu City government and Megawide Construction Corp, for the modernization of the market, which houses over 8,000 vendors.
Megawide has poured at least P5 billion for Phase 1 of the modernization project.