By Kean Andrei Bagaipo | October 13, 2023
Ongoing improvements and relocation of the Ninings’ food kiosks are around 75-percent finished, said Prof. Jane Annette Belarmino, vice president for development, enterprise, and external affairs (VPDEEA).
The project continues with ground graveling, standardizing stall design, and installing additional benches and tables.
Prof. Belarmino clarified that the recent developments in the area are university-funded and intended for the students while also giving vendors a “better location” for their kiosks.
“Supposed to be, the Ninings don’t have their cables and tables. Giayo ang salog, gihatagan sila’g benches (The floors are fixed, they were given benches), so it’s a better location and facilities for them,” she said.
According to Prof. Belarmino, the Silliman University (SU) Administration decided to relocate several food kiosks behind the pharmacy building to “distribute [them] in strategic places” that are accessible to the students.
She added that the new location is “more discrete and shady,” allowing students some privacy and security while restoring “green spaces” in the old area by putting plants along the road.
Consultation with kiosk vendors
Before proceeding with the plan’s implementation, Prof. Belarmino emphasized the necessity of obtaining the vendors’ cooperation and mentioned they had conducted two consultation meetings with them.
However, Esterlita Cañas, a vendor of Inday’s Refreshment, said they only heard the plans from their kiosk head, Hermosilia Espinosa, who attended the meetings with Belarmino.
During the relocation, she described how they had to remove the windows of their stall for them to lift and transfer it.
“Kaning mga stall, bag-o ni (These stalls are new). Giaswat jud ni og kinse ka tawo og gipangkuha ang mga bintana kay bug-at (These were lifted by fifteen people and the windows were removed because they were heavy),” Cañas said.
Moreover, she expressed her gratitude to the university and hoped they would be permanently placed in their location now that new facilities are provided.
