MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – A Mandaue City Councilor is urging the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) to allow city residents to pay on a staggered basis their bills for the months of March and April.
Councilor Jennifer Del Mar, chairperson of the committee on Disaster Risk Reduction Management, said that doing so would lighten the burden that water consumers now feel as a result of the water shortage.
Del Mar said that because of the water shortage, many of the Mandauehanons had to spend on bottled water.
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Her request to MCWD was contained in a resolution that she authored and which the City Council passed during their regular session on April 15.
Staggered basis
In her resolution, Del Mar proposed that payments for March and April be paid on a staggered basis or spread until the end of the year.
READ: Mandaue City gov’t repairs deep wells amid water shortage
“Kasagaran namo masugatan mao sad ang ila’ng hangyo kay lately man gud wala naapil sa ilang budget ang pagpalit og purified water para makaligo since walay agas sa ila’ng lugar, ang request sad nga dili sila mamutol dayun,” said Del Mar.
Del Mar also raised the same concern when MCWD officials appeared during their session last week to shed light on the water shortage now being experienced in the city.
READ: MCWD told to explain ‘water shortage’ in Mandaue brgys
Engr. John Macabinta, MCWD’s Corporate Planning Department Manager, welcomed Del Mar’s proposal. But this will have to be discussed by the MCWD leadership.
After the city’s Department of General Services repaired the deep well in the area, residents of Sitio Sandayong, Sector 1 in Barangay Pagsabungan line up to fill their containers with water. | Mandaue DGS via Mary Rose Sagarino
Leadership dispute
Meanwhile, Mayor Jonas Cortes expressed hope for the immediate resolution of the leadership dispute at MCWD.
Cortes said that since Metro Cebu is currently experiencing a water crisis, a change in administration now will not do any good to the water district.
In addition, he expressed worry how the dispute among MCWD officials and the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) would affect MCWD’s service since Mandaue City is part of its franchise area.
“Dunay mga kontrata ang mga LGUs with MCWD, so mausab na sad niya na taliwa sa kalisod, kakuwang sa tubig. Ang ako lang unta nga ang problema dili matubag og laing problema. Naa tay panultihon water is life, so hinaot unta mapangitaan ni og solusyon,” said Cortes.