MCWD General Manager Stephen Yee | Delta Dyrecka Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) General Manager Stephen Yee is hoping that the 43rd Philippine Association of Water Districts (PAWD) convention will help each district combat the challenges of providing water to the public.
“We will be exchanging ideas, exchanging technologies, and what we are looking for, including the lectures from the LWUA (Local Water Utility Administration). We hope we can combat the challenges in our districts,” Yee said.
At least 2,000 participants from the various water districts in the country gathered in Cebu City for the first physical convention since the pandemic started.
MCWD, being its host, is one of two districts classified as Category A districts and has the most number of subscribers in the country, amassing over 200,000 subscribers.
Yee said that MCWD had always pioneered technological advancement in water production including desalination.
Yet, MCWD has its challenges as well, especially after Typhoon Odette where water distribution was disrupted because of the loss of power.
Yee said they hoped to see more ideas during the convention to prepare for any future disasters and to prevent any disruption of supplies due to these uncontrollable phenomena.
“We can raise our concerns. The more people, the stronger we are because we cannot stand alone,” said Yee.
Scenes at the 43rd PAWDs water convention.
Mayor Michael Rama challenged MCWD to provide additional water supply to the city since many areas were still unserviced by the utility.
In his speech during the opening ceremony of the convention, Rama said that “there should be water” by July 1, 2022, which is the start of the mayor’s fresh term.
Yee said that it was impossible to raise the supply by then and so he and the MCWD board would talk to the mayor to discuss the tight timeline.
However, they are expecting the Lusaran Bulk Water Project to be able to provide 15,000 cubic meters of water by September 2022.
Since the JVA was signed in November 2021, the project proponent had begun the construction of the project and five barangays would mainly benefit from it including Barangays Busay, Lahug, Apas, Camputhaw and Capitol Site.
They have even opened up applications for water connection anticipating the new supply by September 2022.
The project proponents promised early servicing by May 2022, but Yee said they had not been able to provide supply yet. He noted that the contract for the supply would start in September anyway.
Aside from the Lusaran Bulk Water Project, MCWD is also expecting supply from desalination plants that will soon rise at the South Road Properties (SRP), Barangay Inayawan, and other areas in the city.
The project at the SRP is already in the bidding process and is expected to supply 10,000 cubic meters of water in the first year and 25,000 cubic meters in the succeeding years until the contract expires.
Currently, MCWD is producing 240,000 cubic meters of water per day from 138 wells and private suppliers covering only 32 percent of the total water demand of Metro Cebu.
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