Both the city government and the private sector are planning to come up with alternative markets to help consumers in accessing food.
Mayor Sara Z. Duterte on Monday said over the Davao City Disaster Radio that the City Agriculturist’s Office (CAO) will distribute agricultural produce families in the city.
Duterte said the move is a parallel effort of the CAO with that of City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO). “Once the CSWDO has already given the relief goods, the CAO will also go to the residences to give out vegetables and fish,” she said.
This developed as the mayor added that a private group is planning to implement a rolling store so that it could sell products to consumers even without going to the public markets.
She said that a certain trader informed her to propose for the operations of a a rolling store in the city. “I said yes, because in this way, we can decongest our public markets, the place where most people are,” she said, pointing out that people must not go to the markets to exercise physical distancing.
She said that the rolling store will sell fish, meats and vegetables in villages.
“Hopefully, this will help,” Duterte said.
Even with the implementation of a rolling store, the mayor said physical distancing should also be observed, or its operations will have to be stopped.
Duterte said that they might open three rolling stores this week.
On the plan of CAO, aside from farm produce, other items are still being considered.
The vegetables, she said, will come from the farmers of the city, as the city mayor pointed out that this is because the farmers are also currently facing a challenge in selling their produce as most of their clients, particularly restaurants, have stopped operations.
“We have intervened to (assist) the farmers supplying restaurants because they have too much surplus. We have taken those. The farmers were told that their products will be bought by the City Agri,” she added as these farmers also need to profit from their farm.
The CAO, she added, will repack the items as the city government will also help in the distributidon process. (With Warren Elijah Valdez)
