Group junks creation of new water district

CEBU, Philippines - The creation of a local water district in the municipality of Daanbantayan has met opposition from a group that will apparently be affected by the dissolution of the existing rural waterworks system.

Officers of Tapilon Rural Waterworks and Sanitation Association (TARWASA) led by Leandro Ducante called for general assembly last March 21 to elect members of the board of directors.

The assembly was also called purposely to consult the member consumers if they would remain as TARWASA or to join the Daanbantayan Water District, which is created recently under the supervision of the Local Water Utilities Administration.

Ducante has been aware of the creation of DBWD and he even talked toVice Mayor Maria Luisa Loot, so he would be appointed as member of the board of directors once TARWASA is dissolved.

However, Ducante was dismayed after he was not elected to the board in a meeting called for the election of the new set of board officials that include the general manager, chairman of the board and four members.

In his invitation letter for a meeting to the members of TARWASA, Ducante said that there should be no politicians to attend the meeting except town councilor Hiram Benatiro and his brother, Tapilon barangay councilor Emmanuel Benatiro.

During the meeting, Hiram reportedly told the members that he will resign as town councilor if TARWASA will face problem.

But Loot said that officers of TARWASA were just misleading their members when the general assembly was called.

Loot claimed she was the one who asked Hiram to turnover TARWASA to the municipal government so it could later be turned over to DBWD to ease their burden.

The Taneo family is allegedly demanding for P2-million as payment of TARWASA for putting the water reservoir in their property.

Loot said that the move to create the water district was started since the time of the late Mayor Lamberto Te.

LWUA has made several follow-ups on the move to create the water district in order to stop the illegal operation of all the rural waterworks system in the municipality for not being registered in their office.

This prompted Mayor Sun Shimura and Loot to pursue the creation and the dissolution of all rural waterworks in the town effective May this year.

Loot stressed that being a first class municipality, it is now time to have a local water district to provide safe and potable water of standardized rate to all barangays including those that have no rural water system this time. — Gregg M. Rubio/WAB (THE FREEMAN)