Lusaran Bulk Water Supply available starting September 18

CEBU, Philippines — TEN days before the Lusaran Bulk Water Supply Project starts supplying water to barangays Busay, Apas and Lahug, lawyer Jose Daluz III, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD), led the inspection of the site where two reservoirs are being constructed.

With Daluz were Engr. Joffrey Hapitan, CEO of JE Hydro and Bio-Energy Corp., the company undertaking the project and MCWD Assistant General Manager for Finance Edgar Donoso. Also present were representatives of M.E. Sicat Construction Inc., the contractor of the two modular tanks that has a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters of water each, and of JFAP Construction which is undertaking the installation of a transmission lines from the reservoirs to barangays Busay, Lahug, Apas and others.

 In a simple ceremony scheduled on September 18, water from Lusaran will start to flow in Busay which signals the start of a better service for barangays in Cebu City that were underserved due to the lack of water supply.

Since the construction of the tanks is not yet completed, water will be directly injected to MCWD’s existing distribution lines. With this development, MCWD will start accepting new water service applications from residents of Busay, Apas and Lahug.

These barangays are among those classified as ‘suspended’, which means processing of all application for water service connection is temporarily suspended as there is no adequate supply to serve the existing demand for water.

 The Lusaran water project will supply 15,000 cubic meters of water a day to MCWD. It sources water from the Lusaran River and uses the conventional way of treating water.

The purchase of the water supply was done through competitive bidding under RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

The completion of the Lusaran project also means that the water district can start serving at least nine mountain barangays in Cebu City that do not have access to MCWD water yet.

These barangays are Budlaan, Pulangbato, Binaliw, Agsungot, Guba, Malubog, Cambinocot, Lusaran and Paril. The water district is now finalizing the detailed engineering design of the distribution line for these areas and will soon bid out the project. — PR