Rama welcomes additional water supply

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama yesterday welcomed the offer of former governor Lito Osmeña to provide water to some mountain barangays.

The Cebu City Council has also approved a request by desalination firm Pilipinas Water Resources, Inc. (PWRI) to sell water outside the South Road Properties (SRP).

These moves are expected to help address the 20,000-cubic-meter deficit of water distributor Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) due to the depletion of its surface water sources.

Osmeña earlier wrote to Rama that he is willing to supply 6,000 cubic meters of water per day to Barangays Taptap, Tagbao and Lusaran at his own expense.

“I was able to connect with him. I don’t want to be revealing things on how we will go about yet. On our part, we will continue to be doing things we have to do,” Rama told reporters yesterday.

He said Osmeña’s proposal will have to be discussed because the city government is already mobilizing to address the water supply shortage.

The mayor last week declared a state of emergency in the entire city due to the water supply shortage.

A report by Councilor Nestor Archival Sr., chairman of the committee on utilities, said the request of the PWRI to be allowed to sell water outside SRP is valid because the company has excess production of around 10,000 cubic meters of water per day.

“As pointed (out) by PWRI and substantiated by the documents it submitted, there is oversupply while there is less demand and the situation was exacerbated by their due and payable loan obligations. With this, the committee is of the opinion that PWRI’s request is valid, fair and reasonable,” Archival said in his report.

The report gave PWRI a probationary period of five years, which may be renewed when “the exigency permits,” to sell outside SRP.

The city government and the PWRI has an existing joint venture agreement that allows the company to exclusively distribute water within the SRP, a 300-hectare reclaimed area that is being developed into a major mixed-use district.

PWRI general manager Ruben Villamor, in a letter to Mayor Rama, requested to be allowed to sell their water to other commercial establishments or to the MCWD to be able to generate more revenues so they can pay their loan obligations to different banks.

Among their main concerns is the low demand from the newly opened SM Seaside City Cebu. Negotiations for a bulk water supply contract with MCWD have not been resolved.

Villamor said that if their excess 10,000 cubic meters a day can be sold, the city government would earn around P18 million a year as royalties from their joint venture agreement.

Rama, for his part, said the acquisition of more water by the MCWD should first be subjected to a public bidding.

“I don’t want to be getting into pricing because there could be bribing. Let it be a public hearing. Then anyone like MCWD can buy water,” he said yesterday.