Unit 1 vendors to be asked to sign waiver

Owing to their unwillingness to vacate unit one of the Carbon market, the vendors will now have to sign a waiver that the city government would not be held liable for any untoward incident that might occur during the rehabilitation of the building.

City market authority chief Elpidio dela Victoria yesterday said they have decided to let the vendors sign a waiver considering that they refuse to vacate the stalls of unit one. Vice Mayor Michael Rama who is currently acting mayor also joined the consensus.

The waiver should also stipulate that the contractor that would undertake the rehabilitation would not have any liability. "No waiver, no vending," Dela Victoria said.

Unit one will undergo rehabilitation after the city engineers discovered that 17 posts are no longer connected to the building's foundation, which poses great risk to the lives of the occupants. During its regular session the other day, the city council declared the building a calamity area.

But Dela Victoria said the city engineers have assured it is possible to undertake the rehabilitation after scaffoldings will be put up. Likewise, the 17 posts are located in the area where fish and chicken are sold, thus, vendors who are selling other items in other areas need not be relocated.

The vendors refused the city's suggestion for them to be transferred to the second floor of unit three because the area is reportedly unhealthy for business. The vendors opted for Escaño Street fronting the Carbon Police Station but Dela Victoria said the area is small, thus, the other ambulant vendors would have to be taken cared of.

The market authority will start a massive information dissemination today to inform the public of the risks in going to unit one.

City Councilor Gabriel Leyson, head of the city's committee on urban planning and development, had said around P17 million from the city's calamity fund would be used to rehabilitate the building after the city government selects the contractor to undertake the project.

Leyson said the rehabilitation will run for 30 to 45 days and the city government will do its best to fast-track the procedure without having the compromise the outcome of the rehabilitation. The city engineers office is expected to present to the council a list of all expenditures in the council's regular session next week.

The market authority decided to relocate 476 vendors to the second floor of unit three after Mayor Tomas Osmeña gave a go signal for the relocation.

One reason why the posts have disconnected from the building's foundation is the fact that they have been susceptible to water considering that the structure, said to be built in the 1950's, is near the sea.

Engineer Antonio Sanchez recommended that the place be vacated the soonest possible time as it "poses imminent danger to life and property". There are 500 stalls in unit one, 476 of which are occupied by fish and meat vendors and eateries.