EDITORIAL - A basic need

Here we are in the 21st century, in the age of cyberspace, three decades after man first set foot on the moon, and one of our biggest problems is where to get a basic need: potable water. In the nation’s capital, water comes out of household taps in a trickle, available in many areas only for a few hours each day. Pipes in se-veral areas are antiquated. The resurgence of cholera in some places in Manila has been attributed to busted or contaminated water pipes. The acute lack has made the cost of water prohibitive in many areas, aggravating problems in sanitation and public hygiene and raising health care costs.

There were such high hopes for improved water supply when the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System was privatized five years ago. Two of the country’s biggest business conglomerates, controlled by the Ayala and Lopez clans, won the bidding and divided the concession area into two zones. Many people expected full coverage of the two zones within five years.

Instead the privatization has gone badly awry. This week Maynilad Water Service Inc., which has jurisdiction over the western part of Metro Manila, announced it was giving up its concession. The main reason cited was its failure to raise its water rates and service its foreign debt, which has ballooned out of control since the Asian financial crisis started in 1997. By giving up its concession, Maynilad hopes not only to cut its losses but also get billions of pesos from the government. But the government, already running a massive deficit, has said it has no money to pay Maynilad. The case is expected to go into arbitration.

At least the other concessionaire, the Ayala group’s Manila Water, has announced it is not giving up like Maynilad. Still, what all this means for Juan de la Cruz is trouble. Maynilad has said that when it won its concession, it assumed 90 percent of the $800-million debt of MWSS and inherited the oldest pipes in the system. Its service area is also home to two-thirds of Metro Manila’s population, Maynilad pointed out. The government has announced it would bid out the concession to other groups. Even as the government ensures that there will be no repeat of the Maynilad fiasco, it should undertake a comprehensive study on proper management of the nation’s water supply. Despite privatization, the government still shares responsibility in providing an adequate supply of a commodity as basic as water.