Cebu City Water Advisory Committee to probe MCWD for water crisis
The Jaclupan Water Facility in Talisay City has dried up due to the extreme heat experienced in the last days of September 2019. | Photo Courtesy of MCWD
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The newly formed Cebu City Water Advisory Committee has been tasked by Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella to probe the “water crisis” the city is experiencing following the decline in the water supply of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).
Labella said that the lack of water supply in the city even during the rainy season was a cause for alarm.
The mayor said he would want the advisory committee to convene immediately so they could find a solution to the problem and assess the performance of MCWD.
Read more: Water Supply Shortage: Labella mulls dismissal of members of the MCWD Board of Directors
The mayor said he seemed to have lost faith in the MCWD as he had warned its Board of Directors that if they would not shape up in finding a solution to the water crisis, he might dismiss them.
“I have already issued an executive order forming the water committee. I asked them to immediately convene so they can submit a recommendation including a recommendation on the fate of MCWD,” said Labella.
Read more: MCWD faces backlash from LGUs; Liloan wants MOA with MCWD terminated
Labella, as the mayor of Cebu City has the authority to appoint and dismiss the Board of Directors of MCWD, and he took note of the complaints by the other local government units (LGUs) in Metro Cebu as the provincial government, Talisay City, Mandaue City, Consolacion town, and Liloan town already expressed their concerns on the lack of water supply.
The mayor said the committee would have to find out if there had been negligence in the MCWD that had caused this problem and what Cebu City, as the local government unit (LGU) that comprises 75 percent of the consumers of MCWD, could do to hold the agency liable.
The Water Advisory Committee was formed on October 7, 2019 with investment and systems analyst expert Roberto Velasquez as its chairman.
The committee is tasked to collect baseline data on water sources in Cebu City and conduct appropriate studies that will help the government and non-government organizations on water resource management.
Read more: Jaclupan Dam supply down; MCWD cuts dam’s water production by 5K cubic meters
Recently, the MCWD announced that its supply was down to 206,000 cubic meters per day following the recent loss of 32,000 cubic meters per day from the Jaclupan Dam in Talisay City, and the dropping of the Buhisan Dam production to 1,300 cubic meters per day from 7,000 cubic meters per day.
Read more: Buhisan Dam water level reaches critical point -MCWD
The agency has already partnered with the Cebu City government in delivering water rations in heavily affected barangays. Water trucks deliver daily to Barangays Sambag 1, 2, Sta. Cruz, and Cogon Ramos in Cebu City. /dbs
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