By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City –Mayor Evelio Leonardia said Tuesday that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has approved the city’s request for a P150-million financial assistance to implement the improvement and rehabilitation of three major public markets.
Leonardia said DBM Secretary Wendel Avisado personally informed him of the assistance which will be sourced from the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF).
The amount will be equally allocated to the Libertad, Central, and Burgos Markets with P50 million each.
“We already had meetings with the officers of the market vendors associations, and the City Engineer’s Office has also consulted them during the process of preparing the Program of Works for the project,” Leonardia said.
The 150-million assistance will be a substantial investment in the three major markets to counter the unprecedented devastating health and economic impacts of COVID-19.
“The primary purposes of this project are, among others, to meet sanitation standards, protect public health and restore economic prosperity,” Leonardia said.
The project is also part of the administration’s economic recovery program.
“This will give us a positive trajectory of our economic outlook,” Leonardia said.
The mayor also thanked Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran and the Sangguniang Panlungsod members for their prompt action in endorsing this project to the DBM.
“Our march to recovery will always be a team effort,” the mayor said.
