IT will take six more years before Dagupan City finally stops paying its amortization on the P282 million loan it secured in 2005 from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) for the construction of the three-storey Malimgas Public Market.

The market, built under the administration of former Mayor Benjamin Lim, continues to be a burden since it continues to be subsidized by the cty government since it started operation.

While the first floor of the market is now almost fully occupied, the second floor remains half empty and the third floor, originally designed for vehicle parking, was hardly utilized since it started operations.

City Accountant Teresita Manaois said after the debt servicing this year in the amount of P34.5 million, the remaining loan balance still stands at P132.9 million.

Mayor Belen Fernandez has initiated renovation plans for Malimgas to bring in ambulant vendors and give the market more income.

Manaois said the city is allocating another P34.5 million in 2014 to pay for the loan, the only one being amortized by the city government to a financial institution like Land Bank.

Of this amount,  P25 million will cover for the principal and another P8.5 million for the  interest.

Manaois said that by the end of 2014, the remaining loan balance should be down to P107 million.—(LVM)

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