On proposed water tariff adjustments: MCWD starts consultations

CEBU, Philippines — The Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) has started consultations on its proposed water tariff adjustments a year from now.

It has spoken to officials of Barangays Apas, Busay, and Lahug in Cebu City and has presented the proposed adjustments to Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Utilities.

MCWD will also speak with mayors, councilors, and barangay officials to apprise them of the proposal and get their inputs.

A separate conversation with consumers will also be scheduled so they will be made aware of how a water tariff adjustment can affect their water bill.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has also urged the City Council to call for a public hearing on the MCWD proposal so that consumers will have a venue to express their sentiments.

A public hearing is the ‘first-step’ requirement set by the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), the regulating agency of all water districts, prior to the submission of the application of the proposed water tariff adjustment and their subsequent review and approval process.

The MCWD water tariff has remained the same for the past seven years.

A present, for a residential consumer with a ½-inch service connection, MCWD charges P152 for the first 10 cubic meters and an additional commodity charge of P16.80 per cubic meter for 11 to 20 cubic meters.

It is charging P19.80 for 21 to 30 cubic meters and P48.40 if it reaches 31 cubic meters and above.

Once the water tariff adjustment is implemented, it will be P81.15 per month for those consuming 10 cubic meters a month and P174.69/month for those consuming 20 cubic meters.

Should the proposal be approved, MCWD said it will commit to the public that it will strive to improve its services continually, develop new infrastructure, source additional water aggressively, and address the plight of its consumers emphatically.

Efforts

From 2015 to the present, MCWD has added 80,000 cubic meters of water per day, installed 140 kilometers of new pipelines to reach more consumers, replaced 12 kilometers of dilapidated pipelines to improve efficiency, and constructed a 1,000 cubic meter reservoir in OPRRA, Cebu City and added 57,000 new service connections accordingly.

To protect the environment, it is currently operating two Septage Treatment Plants located in San Miguel, Cordova, and North Reclamation Area, Cebu City.

Over a seven-year period, it has spent P2.1 billion on infrastructure development and incurred P12 billion in operational expenses.

Last year, MCWD commissioned the Compostela Bulk Water Supply Project and currently delivering 10,000 cubic meters per day to consumers in its northern service area.

By September of this year, the P1.1 Billion Lusaran Bulk Water Supply Project is scheduled to deliver an additional 15,000 cubic meters of water per day.

This project will benefit the residents of Barangays Busay, Lahug, Apas, Camputhaw, and Capitol Site directly. Next year, nine mountain barangays in Cebu City will also get water from the project. —  JMO (FREEMAN)