4 cities in Cebu, NegOr soon to gain access to clean water

Carcar City Water District general manager Edward Remo (from left), VEI chief executive officer Marco Schouten, Bogo City Water District general manager Houdini Jumao-as, VEI project manager Carl Kamstra, Bayawan City Water District general manager Alma Abrasaldo, VEI project manager Patrick Egan, Toledo City Water District general manager Raul Abellana and Folkert de Jager of VEI join hands after signing the memorandum of agreement on the Performance Enhancement Water Utilities Philippines project. CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON

THOUSANDS of residents from three Cebu cities and a city in Negros Oriental will soon get access to clean and potable water through a project by water utilities in the Netherlands.

Vitens Evides International (VEI), a joint venture of water utilities in the Netherlands, launched its Performance Enhancement Water Utilities Philippines (PEWUP) project yesterday.

PEWUP is one of the 22 projects in the WaterWorX project which the Dutch government and all 10 Dutch water utilities are doing. Its objective is to give access to potable water to 10 million less privileged people around the world by 2030.

In the Philippines, the project’s first phase will benefit the water districts of Bogo City, Toledo City and Carcar City in Cebu, and Bayawan City in Negros Oriental.

The four-year phase 1 of the project includes a P9-million grant to each of the four water districts which also have to shell out their counterpart of P1.2 million per year.

A memorandum of agreement was signed by VEI with the four water districts yesterday.

According to Philippine Association of Water Districts (PAWD) president Alma Abrasaldo, each of the beneficiary water districts have submitted their project proposals which include the opening of new water connections in their respective areas.

“For our city, we plan to connect 3,000 households in 19 hinterland barangays. These households cannot afford to have new water connections so it’s better if we use the grant for them. We expect this to help reduce mortality cases of people dying due to water-borne diseases,” said Abrasaldo, who is also the general manager of the Bayawan Water District (BWD).

Under their agreement, she said the BWD will just be reimbursed quarterly by the VEI depending on the number of connections they are able to complete in the period.

For his part, Toledo City Water District (TCWD) general manager Raul Abellana said they also plan to make connections to 3,000 households to benefit around 15,000 residents within their city.

Aside from the new connections, the PEWUP will also include improving the operational and financial performance of the four water districts through exchange of expertise, collective learning, and close collaboration with the PAWD and the Local Water Utilities Administration.

The project’s phase 2, which is scheduled to start on 2022, will include the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).