As New Year comes: Fireworks business at SRP now picking up

CEBU, Philippines — Vendors of pyrotechnic materials at the South Road Properties (SRP) can now heave a sigh of relief after buyers of their products have already came in droves since Sunday.

The vendors earlier lamented that their business was not making good in that wide area along F. Vestil Street, Cebu City because the buyers just came in trickles.

However, when The FREEMAN went back to check the area yesterday, there were already several buyers frequenting the place.

Ruben Nueva, a resident of Mandaue City, really made out of his way to go to SRP to buy pyrotechnic materials because he believes that these can shoo away misfortune.

Vendor Edna Farantar, who is from Barangay Busay, Cebu City, said the buyers started to arrive since Sunday.  They expect that it is going to be a busy day today because of the new year festivities.

She is hoping that it would not rain, since the weather plays a good part in their business.

SRP Security Consultant Rodrigo Berdin Jr. said they made a site inspection recently to check the situation and to prevent any untoward incident.

He said he was happy that the vendors have complied with the regulations they have set to avoid an accident.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Police Office Officer-in-Charge Police Col. Engelbert Soriano, Councilor Philip Zafra, and Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification and Enhancement Chief Raquel Bohol-Arce conducted a “walk through” at the Carbon Public Market to check if there were illegal firecrackers sold in the area.

Soriano said they have intensified their campaign against the illegal selling of firecrackers, considering that they just had recently seized about P400,000 worth of firecrackers inside a warehouse.

He added that they are focusing on the source of the illegal firecrackers as well as those who sell these illegal products.

During their inspection, they have not found anyone selling illegal firecrackers.  However, he mentioned that they would continue to monitor to avoid any accident.

The authorities said that selling of pyrotechnic materials, as well as the lighting of fireworks, should only be done at the firecracker zone to avoid any accident. (FREEMAN)