The Commercial Gallery, the Public Market building, the Fish and Seafood Square, as well as the Popular Food Square, show the recovery and social development that the most important supply center has had.
The merchants who have been working in the Public Market for more than 40 years never imagined that their work area, which was full of garbage, rotten water and where crime prevails, would become a safe space where they can get their daily livelihood with dignity.
This was reported by the vendor Félix Eduardo Orozco, who has been marketing natural products for more than three decades; work that he carried out using a wheelbarrow with which he toured the neighborhoods of the city and now has a store in the Commercial Gallery where he was able to magnify his work and have a better quality of life.
“I have been selling here at this location for more than 7 years, the changes are enormous. The remodeling, the cleanliness, the bathrooms, the customer service. I went from being a street vendor to being in the Gallery”, Orozco explained.
The Public Market Gallery was inaugurated in 2016 by former mayor Rafael Martínez, after having been hired by his predecessor and current governor of Magdalena Carlos Caicedo. 7 billion pesos were invested in its execution and 438 merchants have benefited from its modules.
Since this gallery was put into operation, Mayor Virna Johnson has worked for its maintenance, since the livelihood of hundreds of families depends on this space, who have been able to demonstrate with works, the change in the city.
“I have been working in the Public Market for 45 years, I am one of those who comes from the old market that was a disaster. For me the change has been fundamental, the structure we have is very beautiful. People from outside congratulate us for that,” said Manuel Camargo, a vendor at the Fish and Seafood Square.
For his part, the butcher José Gregorio López, who has his job in the Public Market building, said that “I have been here for 5 years. I used to be in El Pueblito and when the building was handed over they transferred us here. It has been a change and we appreciate it”.
The district administration continues working to keep the Public Market recovered, safe and as a focus of progress, helping merchants to formalize their businesses and providing them, through agreements with banks, opportunities to increase their capital so that their activity continues to be increasingly more productive.