Building dams in Lusaran, Kotkot not a priority, MCWD says

MCWD manager Engr. Noel Dalena gives updates on the proposed Mananga and Kotkot dam projects during a meeting of the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

THE Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) said it cannot prioritize the building and operation of dams at the Mananga-Kotkot-Lusaran river basins amid public clamor for additional sources of potable water.

During a meeting of the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB), MCWD general manager Noel Dalena said they cannot even convince the national government to allow them to secure a P2.4 billion loan needed to fund the dam projects.

Engr. Lemuel Canastra, acting chief of MCWD’s environment and water resource department, said they will spend P875 million for a 25-meter-high dam and 767 million for a 19-meter-high dam in Kotkot alone.

They also need to spend P59 million a year for operational costs. Canastra said these figures are based on 2006 studies and need to be updated.

They also need to deal with residents who will be displaced by the projects, he said.

Dalena said they are looking at other alternatives like low financing projects, entering into public private partnerships (PPPs), and financing on their own to look for low-volume water sources.

Should they push through with the Mananga project, Dalena said prices for water would go as high as P64 per cubic meter.

“Magrebolusyon ang tibuok Cebu ana (The entire Cebu will revolt),” he said.

He said they are pushing for a feasibility study on the Mananga water source and hope that water price would go as low as P10 per cubic meter.

“If there is a guarantee. The government will guarantee that we can avail of that loan, then we’ll do it by ourselves. Who knows we will go for it,” Dalena said.

The MCDCB passed a motion asking MCWD to lead a workshop with stakeholders in order to study ways to develop potential water sources to augment Metro Cebu’s water supply.

The MCWD announced that representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) study team will visit Cebu next month or in the month of August to conduct studies for their proposed septage treatment plants project.

MCWD applied for a P1 billion grant from JICA to build three septage treatment plants.

Later the board deferred approval of the creation of a Metro Cebu Traffic Enforcers Academy pending the review of its agreement along with the budgetary and operational concerns for training Metro Cebu traffic enforcers.