The construction of the P525 million new Burgos Public Market in Bacolod City is targeted to start next year, Engineer Loben Ceballos, officer-in-charge of the City Engineer’s Office (CEO), said Thursday, Nov. 30.
A temporary market will be built on an adjacent almost 20,000-square meter vacant lot in Barangay 19 owned by the Yanson family to accommodate the vendors at the 8,000-square meter Burgos Public Market, which will be demolished to make way for a two-story modern market, he said.
The bidding for the construction of the new market is targeted for January and construction will follow a few months after when the vendors have been transferred to the temporary site, Ceballos said.
The new market is targeted for completion in 18 months, he said.
There are about 740 stalls at the current market and the new one will have 900, he said.
The terminal for the jeeps that serve the Granada and Alangilan routes will be located in the middle of the first floor of the market, while a parking area will be located on the second floor to address the traffic problem, Ceballos said.
The new market will also have high ceilings for better air circulation, and its second floor will have a food court.
Ceballos said the terminal site is envisioned to be used as a night market in the evenings.
The P525 million for the new Burgos market is part of the loan availed of by the city government, Ceballos said.
The construction of new Central and Libertad markets are also in the pipeline.
There were some vendors who asked that the construction of the new Burgos market be delayed to allow them to recover from the COVCID-19 pandemic.
They also pointed out that the market had only recently undergone rehabilitation.*