P194-million mega market in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental completed

Guihulngan City Mega Market features aircon conference rooms and state-of-the-art facilities.

DUMAGUETE CITY – The multi-million peso brand new and modern mega market in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental is now ready for use following the completion of the project that was turned over to the local government unit (LGU) Tuesday afternoon in a simple ceremony.

It is now considered the biggest and most modern public market in Negros Oriental, according to Engr. Louie Tijing of Philsouth Builders, the contractor responsible for the project, which was built over a two-year period.

The two-story mega market, costing PHP194-million, sits on 7,000 square meters and boasts of features such as a cold storage facility, a freezer and a chiller that can each accommodate 20 cubic meters of goods.

The freezer can go as low as negative 23 degrees Centigrade while the chiller can drop to zero degrees Centigrade, disclosed Engr. Tijing.

It has an ice plant that can produce 24 cubes per 24 hours, with each ice cube weighing about 25 kilos, Tijing added.

The building is also equipped with 25 Closed Circuit TV cameras, in response to the requirement of the city mayor that “there has to be adequate security for the people,” the contractor disclosed.

Another feature is a centralized paging system with around 23 speakers mounted all over the building, as well as four giant weighing scales, smoke detectors for fire protection and other safety features inside the building, he added.

The mega market also boasts of 174 dry stalls and 72 wet market stalls, open space for concessionaires as well as for the small-time vendors.

A conference room with airconditioning and sound system on the second level of the mega market is also designed to accommodate 150 to 200 people at one sitting.

Engr. Louie Tijing has also assured the residents of Guihulngan City of the mega market’s structural integrity, saying it can withstand an earthquake of the same magnitude that devastated Guihulngan and other parts of northern Negros Oriental more than four years ago.

Tijing was referring to the Magnitude 6.9 earthquake of February 6, 2012 that left more than 50 people dead in Negros and Cebu islands as well as hundreds of people in the hit hardest areas like Guihulngan, La Libertad, Jimalalud and Tayasan, among others, that were left homeless.

Millions of pesos worth of infrastructure, including the old public market building of Guihulngan City, was destroyed by that tremor.

“When we planned this project (the mega market) with then Mayor Ernesto Reyes in 2012, the earthquake was still fresh in the minds of the people and that is why we had to consider the safety of the building,” stressed Engr. Tijing.




“You are assured that if another earthquake of the same magnitude (in 2012) will come that you will not see what has happened to the old market,” Tijing added.

The old public market still stands to this day, right next to the newly built mega market in downtown Guihulngan.

Ernesto Reyes, now the vice mayor of Guihulngan, disclosed that business entities in that old market shall be given priority in the assignment of stalls at the new mega market.

This early, there are more than 500 applicants already for a stall at the modern market, who will have to go through a bidding process, Reyes added.

When conceptualized in 2012, the Land Bank of the Philippines had granted a loan of PHP200-million for the build-and-design project, which was awarded, to Philsouth Builders.

Engr. Tijing said they are now on the finishing touches stage of the project that Vice Mayor Reyes said will be scheduled for blessing and inauguration next month.

The contractor, meanwhile, appealed to the people of Guihulngan to manage and maintain the mega market so it can last for years with minimal wear and tear.

Tijing disclosed they have started training people about three weeks ago on maintenance and management, pointing out that the mega market is an economic enterprise with the objective of earning income for the city.

Vice Mayor Reyes said he is delighted with the project, which he describes as his and his family’s legacy to the people of Guihulngan City.

His son, Guido, the incumbent mayor of Guihulngan City, received the symbolic key during a simple turn over ceremony held at the conference room of the mega market.

Also in attendance were Vice Gov. Edward Mark Macias, Land Bank officials, city officials and department heads and other sectoral representatives. [via PNA]