KALIBO, Aklan – The Asia Pacific Medical Center (APMC) has asked the municipal government of Kalibo to reconsider a plan to temporarily relocate public market vendors in Barangay Andagao.
The target relocation site is just across APMC.
Patients’ rest is crucial in the healing and recovery process, APMC stressed.
APMC is currently constructing a seven-storey building with roof deck along Judge Nicanor Martelino Road in Barangay Andagao. The 216-bed capacity private hospital started its construction on February 2020. It is expected to be completed by this December.
In a letter to Vice Mayor Cynthia Dela Cruz, APMC Aklan president Dr. Simeon Arce Jr. urged the local government to “exercise caution and due diligence” in relocating market vendors.
Last September 2019, fire partially destroyed the public market along Roxas Avenue and Toting Reyes Street in Barangay Andagao. The municipal government of Kalibo decided to secure a loan to acquire a relocation site for the temporary transfer of the vendors while the public market is being rebuilt.
APMC-Aklan also questioned the conformity of the relocation site to Comprehensive Land Use Plan standards.
“We appeal to the local government of Kalibo to consider the position of our hospital. We believe other locations had been proposed and would be more suitable (for vending) than opposite the hospital,” according to Arce.
APMC is being envisioned to be the first hospital in the province to provide complete amenities so Aklanons would not have to send their sick loved ones to Iloilo or Manila for special treatment.
Their chosen location, stressed Arce, is presently free from pollutant s and has no existing industries.
Should a new wet market be constructed in front of the hospital, it would definitely contribute to traffic, noise pollution, hygiene and sanitary problems, Arce stressed.
“Putting a hospital and a wet market very near each other is a disaster waiting to happen,” he pointed out.
Citing the World Health Organization, APMC pointed out that unwanted noise impacts the healing process of patients during their stay in hospitals./PN
