Long overdue – and a serious lesson for the future.
The recent ordinance filed by the local government of San Pedro City, Laguna to declare as “concluded and expired” its contract with a private corporation for the operations of its main public market marks the end of a contentious chapter in the city’s history.
For over two decades now, both vendors and consumers inside the San Pedro City Public Market (more commonly known as Suki Market) have suffered from high rentals and alleged “intimidation” of some vendors inside the market.
This, in turn, has led to high prices of goods and commodities sold inside the market – a heavy burden for a populace already reeling from high inflation rates and a bleak economic situation.
With the impending prospect of the city government taking operations of the public market, vendors and consumers alike are now hoping for fairer treatment, lower rental costs, and lower prices of goods in the process.
It’s also an important lesson not only for the city government of San Pedro, but other LGUs in Laguna province and elsewhere.
The lesson: partnerships with private corporations for public infrastructure should ensure that the public gets the most benefits.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) for public infrastructure have become a part of local governance, particularly among LGUs who cannot afford on their own to build these vital installations.
But in recent years, it has become clear that these partnerships have only resulted in private corporations raking in profits while the public suffers from shoddy service.
Meanwhile, local governments are left with tied hands, unable to solve the basic problems of poor service and high costs to consumers.
Local government laws are not surely wanting in the protection of consumers and kicking the rears of parties abusing the privileges extended to them by the government.
In the case of the San Pedro Public Market, the lessons imparted by the fiasco of a private operator allegedly declining to relinquish control of a public installation should serve as a warning for future local leaders.
The people of San Pedro city are watching.
#OpinYonLaguna #Editorial