The Negros Occidental Food Terminal Market in Bacolod City will open in mid-August as the provincial government steps up the revenue generation efforts of its economic enterprises, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, August 3.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on Tuesday stressed the need to step up the generation of local revenues with the expected drop in Negros Occidental’s National Tax Allotment share by P782,280,808 in 2023.
The managers of the province’s economic enterprises will try to outperform the income they generated before the COVID-19 pandemic, Diaz said.
Diaz said with the challenge given to them by the governor, the Economic Enterprise Development Department has set the schedule for the food terminal opening.
The contract signing of all the lessees at the food terminal was held Wednesday and the turnover of stalls will be on August 8, he said.
The stalls will be rent free until the fit-out period or the preparation of the stalls by the about 56 lessees is completed, he said.
The rent will start for the fish stalls, vending kiosks and “bagsakans” on August 15, and for the meat and poultry, fruits and vegetables, and dry goods stalls on August 23.
The “tulahans” or eateries in the food terminal will open on September 7, he said.
Diaz said some rooms at the Negros Residences in Bacolod are also already being used.
The repair of the Negros Residences’ tiles and the roof that has leaks caused by typhoon “Odette” is underway, he added.
The Negros First CyberCentre that used to earn P50 million a year earned more than P60 million in the first seven months of 2022, he also said.
The provincial government is also undertaking repairs that when completed will enable the facility to earn more, Diaz said.
The Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary is also generating income and sometimes they have to stop accepting guests to prevent overbooking, he said.
They are limiting guests at Mambukal to about 350 a day, and in the future
will increase the number, he said.
The provincial government-run hospitals are also generating income with an increase in number of patients, he said.
The non-COVID patients dropped at the height of the pandemic, he said.
They have also started hearings on the raising of some hospital fees that have not been increased since 2017, Diaz said.
The new rates that will remain lower than the prevailing rates in private hospitals will be submitted to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for approval, he added.*