Water to cost more in July

Officials of Manila Water Company and Cebu Manila Water Development Inc. visit the weir in Luyang River in Carmen town, Cebu. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Starting July , the cost of water in Metro Cebu will be P1.63 more per cubic meter or about P15 for the equivalent of five full barrels.

Despite pleas from consumers in a public hearing yesterday to hold it off, the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) said it needs a proposed 12 percent water rate increase to pay for new sources of bulk water from the Luyang river in Carmen town, and other expansion projects.

By June, weathermen also forecast the start of the El Niño to bring a long dry spell that would affect ground water reserves, on which MCWD is largely dependent.

Faced with a prolonged, dry summer and depletion of ground water sources, are consumers ready to suffer dry taps or would they rather pay more?

“We don’t have anywhere else to go but to ask the public for a rate increase,” said Ernesto Delco, MCWD assistant general manager at the hearing called by the Cebu City Council.

“We can no longer continue ground water extraction because this will only increase salt water intrusion. “We need to shift. That’s why we have already stopped drilling additional wells,” he said.

As Cebu Daily News reported in its March 11 issue, the new rates were virtually a “done deal”.

Approval of the 12 percent rate hike pending before the Local Water Utilities Association (LWUA) in Manila is a built-in condition for MCWD’s first Bulk Water Supply contract which was signed last Dec. 18, 2013 with Manila Water, a private consortium of the Ayala-led Manila Water and the Cebu provincial government.

If the 12 percent hike is not implemented, the bulk water deal can be set aside.

CONSUMERS OPPOSE

Ordinary consumers, however, oppose a rate increase that comes at a time when Cebu is recovering from natural calamities in the last quarter of 2013.

“Ayaw mi ninyo himoa nga sacrificial lamb sa inyong pag improve sa inyong serbisyo,” said Rebecca Flordeliz, a mother from barangay Apas, one of nine speakers representing urban poor residents and non-government organizations.

(Don’t make us a sacrificial lamb in your efforts to improve service.)

“I am asking the city council nga if madala ayaw intawn ninyo ipa increase ang water rates,” she said.

MCWD officials earlier said they would hold an information drive to explain why the 12 percent hike, its first in eight years, is needed since the legal requirement of public hearings was already satisfied in 2006.

BURDEN ON PEOPLE

Alicia Guanzon, a senior citizen from barangay Guadalupe said any water rate increase would be an added financial burden especially after MCWD stopped last December the grant of a five percent discount as incentive for advance billing payments.

She complained of the new tiered discount scheme” that MCWD started in February 2014 which benefits only those who consume more than 50 cubic meters of water.

“How about the ordinary families? We are now facing a problem with the El Niño and they are advocating that we conserve water but why is the discount given only to bigger consumers? What is the logic of giving a discount only to those who consume more than 50 cubic meters?” asked Guanzon.

Roberto Ybanez, chairman of the Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water, said MCWD should consider other financing sources other than passing on the cost of their expansion projects to consumers.

If buying surface water is more expensive that pumping from the ground, MCWD should start to consider the use of reverse osmosis, he said.

Cathy Ruiz of Kaabag Sugbu asked MCWD officials to show their finances on their website and to conduct more public dialogs on the adjustment.

NEXT STEPS

Delco led four MCWD officials in the hearing since general manager Armando Paredes is due back on Monday yet from travel to Rome, where he attended the canonization of two popes.

At the end of the three-hour hearing, Councilor Gerry Carillo asked for:

– a copy of MCWD’s position paper;

– for the council’s utilities committee to consolidate reports in order to craft their own position paper for LWUA;

– for LWUA to hold more public consultations on the water rate increase; and for MCWD to post its financial records and a list of projects and programs on its website for transparency.

Delco said they were sorry for the inconvenience that the GM’s letter may have caused.

“It is not our intention to cancel the public hearing ang among gusto nga ma usa ra unta sa among public hearing,” Delco told the council.

Councilor James Cuenco said it would have been easier for MCWD to convince the public of the need for a water rate increase if the water district, which serves only 40 percent of its franchise area, was able to deliver quality service but service has been deteriorating, forcing some consumers to switch to private water providers.

Delco said MCWD has been improving its service but it can’t be avoided that some areas suffer low pressure and no water, especially those located in elevated areas.