Vendors and market goers will enjoy better facilities at the Interim Market, where there is stable and dependable power and water supply, 24/7 CCTV and security operation, and clean and functional comfort rooms.
The Interim Building is a temporary structure for vendors to continue selling while construction of the main public market is underway.
Flower seller Teofila Cañete, 61, said she has started to earn more after transferring to her new stall in the Interim Market. Cañete has been selling flowers in Carbon for 20 years. She is optimistic that her earnings will continue to increase in the coming weeks with new buyers and loyal customers who used to go to Freedom Park find them in their new locations.
Ambulant vendors and their loyal customers also find the move beneficial.
“Mas diri ang nindot kay dili mi mauwanan, nya ang tanang tawo sad nahibawo na naa mi diri, moanhi sad mangita og mga flower arrangement,” Cañete said in an interview published by the Cebu City Public Information Office.
She said the Interim Market shelters them from getting drenched when it rains. Eugelyn Gabisay, 67, also expressed her optimism with the transfer to better facilities.
Carbon Market Administrator Wynne Cenas, meanwhile, assured vendors from Freedom Park that they need not worry about stall rentals because it will stay the same in the next three years. Cenas stressed that any increase in rates will undergo due process in the Cebu City Council before it can be implemented.
“Positive kay ko nga nindot atong merkado, mahalinan na sila tanan diri kay ma-open na man ni tanang four sides aning atong Interim Building. Maabli na ni siya, nya ang atong dalan sa ML Quezon ug MC Briones lagpad na. Dako kaayo ko’g panglantaw nga malipayon ni sila diri,” Cenas said. (I am positive that the vendors will earn more because all four sides of the building will be open. I am positive that they will be happy here.)
Megawide designed the Interim Market to ensure access to pedestrians through major entrances from Calderon Street, Quezon Boulevard, and MC Briones. The facility is also equipped with properly categorized wide aisles, labels, and directional signages so that market goers and vendors alike can enjoy an organized and clean market experience.
“Carbon is 126 years old. Ni-evolve nga walay plano sa drainage, parking and sewer, among other things. Kinahanglan mo-improve ta para mobalik ang mga tawo sa Carbon,” C2W Operations Director Lyds Eco shared in a meeting with 375 vendors and stall holders from Freedom Park and Warwick Barracks last March. (Carbon evolved over 126 years without proper planning on drainage, parking, and sewage. It is time to work on it so people will return to the public market.)
The Cebu City Market Operations Division and Cebu2World, Inc. gathered vendors on March 8 at the Interim Market to clarify concerns and discuss their questions on the ongoing project.
Eco reiterated in a recent interview that the developer intends to retain the character of the public market. Their efforts to retain the core of Carbon include a lane for karumateros to ply through the modernized market area more efficiently.
Eco said that so far, 488 karumateros have been established in the area and given uniforms. She also assured vendors that they do not have to worry about competing with commercial districts such as the Puso Village, because their target market will not be competing with the public market itself.
