Capitol ties with firm for bulk water supply

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu provincial government will venture into the development of new bulk water supply, as access to water is still a problem to many areas in the province.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in an interview, revealed that the Metropolitan Cebu Water District could not meet the total daily demand of 230 million liters.

Currently, MCWD supplies Metro Cebu with only 35 million liters a day. This is sourced from the Luyang Watershed, located in Carmen.

”Perhaps it might be time to look into the water distribution part of this total water supply program for the Cebuanos,” Garcia said.

This week, the governor met with the management from the Manila Water Company Inc. to discuss the terms of partnership between the company and the Province of Cebu, along with plans for future projects.

Also among the agenda is the possible expansion of their partnership from water bulk to actual water distribution.

“MCWD has been unable to meet the total water service connection demand… they were only able to meet thirty to thirty five percent,” Garcia added.

Water service connection refers to the endpoint of the water from the water source or the individual homes and establishments with functioning water connections.

The MCWD, during its latest visit to the governor, has reportedly updated that the number has already increased to 42 percent, but the governor still believes that it is still far too low.

A total allocation of P50 million has been appropriated to the province’s Water Supply Program in the approved supplemental budget.

Garcia said that she will be focusing on towns that have serious water problems.

Among the towns in the list is Moalboal.

Moalboal Vice Mayor Lingling Rozgoni and the residents had separately brought to Garcia’s attention their water supply woes.

Moalboal is also known for its numerous resorts and tourism establishments, hence why the water scarcity poses a problem to the municipality’s economic backbone.

“I have also asked our provincial engineers to get in touch with the City of Carmen. Because the irony here is that Carmen is the source of 35 million liters a day being supplied to the Metro Cebu area and yet residents in Carmen complain of lack of water,” Gwen added. — GAN (FREEMAN)