Villarete calls MCWD a failure

South Road Properties manager Paul Villarete is asking the Metropolitan Cebu Water District to review the entire concept of its existence, saying that MCWD has allegedly not lived up to its basic function as a water district.

Villarete said that while the concept of a water district is primarily to supply water to the population in its jurisdiction, MCWD is only supplying to less than half of Metro Cebu's population.

What's worse, he says, is that the remaining 60 percent of population that MCWD is not supplying potable water is said to be getting water that is "dubious or unsafe" and at a higher price.

Villarete said there are three main obligations of a water district; to provide potable water, provide it efficiently, and provide it at the least cost. However, MCWD reportedly falls short in meeting these obligations.

In 1974, MCWD took over in distributing potable water to Metro Cebu after the Osmeña Waterworks System suffered financial losses. Aside from Cebu City, MCWD also supplies potable water to Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay and the municipalities of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Cordova from their reservoirs in Talamban and Pardo in Cebu City, Casili in Consolacion and Mananga in Talisay City.

Metro Cebu has consistently experienced water shortage due to deforestation and seawater intrusion of the underground water supply.

Now, MCWD is in hot water with the controversial Carmen Bulk Water Supply Project initiated by the Ayala-Stateland Consortium that Mayor Tomas Osmeña has vehemently objected because of the estimated P200 million development cost that comes along with it.

Osmeña said residents in the city may not be able to afford the P25.55 per cubic meter price of water that would be provided by Ayala-Stateland Consortium.

Currently, Cebu City residents are only paying P18 and P19 per cubic meter for the water being provided by Mactan Rock and Foremost Water respectively.

On October 10, 2006, the NEDA-ICC has approved the draft water supply agreement. Based on recommendations by its Technical Working Group, NEDA-ICC said to have "interposed no objection" to the agreement.

The approval would already pave the way for MCWD to finalize the terms of reference and bid documents to launch into a price challenge. This is the time that other water suppliers can challenge the proposal of Ayala-Stateland Consortium. - Joeberth M. Ocao/BRP