At carbon market, following fire: Rental permit renewal halted

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City Market Authority (CCMA) will not renew the lease permits at the Carbon Public Market for now as it sorts out the documents it was able to retrieve from the market, which was hit by a fire last Thursday.

“Mag suspend sa mi; mangita sa mi og paagi nga ma-retrieve to… naa man mi mga documents nga na-retrieve kay after sa katong na fire out na, gi-allow man mi ni Nagiel (Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office head) nga makasulod para ma-salvage whatever important documents,” said market administrator Winifredo Orcullo.

The documents retrieved from the fire scene are stored at the CCDRRMO at the South Road Properties.

Orcullo said they will notify the vendors and the public once processing of contracts resume, but advised that it would take them about a month to return to normal operations.

The fire razed the offices of CCMA and the Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification, and Enhancement (PROBE) team situated at Unit 3 of the Carbon Public Market.

Things inside the CCMA office like computers, chairs, and tables have been damaged.

Orcullo said he is eyeing at asking the City Administrator to allow CCMA to occupy the 9th floor of the executive building.

“Wa gyud ko’y mahimo. We have to rest back from the ashes. First is mangita pa mi og temporary nga opisina, for the meantime gyud nga naingon ani ni ba,” he said.

The CCMA has about 20 employees.

Meanwhile, PROBE head Racquel Arce said their daily operations will continue.

“Dili man sad siguro kay kato siya mga confiscated items, taud-taud wala na-redeem… more than three to six months. Na-stock sa warehouse sa Unit 3. Naa ta’y active nga confiscated items naa man sa T. Padilla,” she said.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the next steps, including the new offices of the affected teams, would need to be discussed thoroughly.

“That’s a very sensitive issue and we all realize that we have our limited space…We have to quantify the problem I cannot give any answers at this point, but I want to congratulate the fire department and all the different agencies. They performed very well,” he said.

Fire Extinguishers

Osmeña said he received reports that there were no fire extinguishers at the CCMA and PROBE offices but CCDRRMO head Nagiel Bañacia denied this.

He said the market guards used the five fire extinguishers there but the fire was too much for them to handle.

“They tried to kuan, kanang pagpatay sa kayo, nidagan sila nakahurot sila og lima ka fire extinguisher pero nidako na, wala nila makaya mao tong ni-evacuate sila tanan,” Bañacia said.

Initial findings point to a “broken wire” that caused the fire.

Bañacia said he will suggest ventilation and “management adjustment” when the offices are fixed.

“Mo-suggest ko nga dunay i-redesign ang atop sa merkado; butangan siya’g ventilation kay base sa among firefighting operations, dili makagawas ang aso or ang kainit di makagawas mao to makakita man mo ang sunog sa market office diri nagsugod sa ilang kisame,” he said.

Vendors returned to business a day after the fire but stayed only up to 6 p.m. owing to absence of electricity.

Assistant market administrator Arneo Quijano said it is difficult to reconnect electricity at the area just yet.

"Lisod pa man ipa-live namo'g balik ang suga, kuyaw paman; ang tubig naa pa, nya ang mga wires nangalanay na, basig naay ma disgrasya," Quijano said. — with Marjory Enriquez, USJR Intern, JMO (FREEMAN)