COWD Chairman Gerry J. Cańo explains why prevailing water rates need to be adjusted because these were fixed 15 years ago and costs of operation and maintenance of the water system have gone up all these years. [Jun Marron photo]
TheMonitorMindanaoToday.com | COWD puts off set rate hike hearings
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD) has postponed the conduct of public hearings on its proposed water rate adjustments set earlier on December 11 and 12, this year.
These consultations – the first since 2011– were supposed to be hosted by Balulang and Carmen on the first day and by Tablon and Barangay 24 on the second day, and that COWD would present its three-tranche water rate adjustment proposal.
COWD Board Chairman Gerry J. Cańo said they cannot hold the public hearings because they did not receive an approval from the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWU), the regulatory agency for water districts.
Also, the LWUA has not designate its official representative to observe the conduct of the consultation with water concessionaires and other stakeholders.
Cańo said that if they proceed with the public hearings, the proceedings will have no legal or binding force, in the absence of the two LWUA requirements — the approval and presence of a LWUA representative.
RATE PROPOSAL
COWD General Manager Edna S. Najeal informed the COWD Board of Directors on Wednesday, December 10, that the public hearings would be postponed. The same message was relayed to the chairpersons of would-be host barangays.
That was a day after she presented the COWD’s water rate adjustment proposal before the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) officers and members in an annual general assembly at the Chali Resort on December 9.
As proposed in COWD main service area, water rates for residential and government customers would be P305.80 from the current P218.40 per 10 cubic meters of water consumed and this is a 40-percent increase on the first tranche. For commercial and industrial customers, the minimum rate for 10 cubic meters of water would be P611.50 from the existing P436.80 or 9.1-percent higher than the prevailing rate.
In six other places outside the main service area, the rates for the first trance would be P333.80 for residential and government concessionaires and P476.80 for commercial and industrial customers. Those directly served by a bulk-water supplier, the residential rate is tripled over the COWD rate.
OVER 10 YEARS
In an interview with a radio station, Cańo said that COWD is asking for adjustments of its
water rates because these were granted by LWUA in 2011 and fully implemented in 2014.
“That was more than 10 years ago, and the costs of fuel, electricity, materials, equipment, labor and salaries of our employees have gone up,” said the COWD chairman, who is a full-time dean of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at PHINMA-Cagayan de Oro College.
He said that COWD, being a government-owned and controlled corporation, does not receive subsidies from the national and local governments, so every peso it collects from its concessionaires is being utilized for the water system’s operation, maintenance, and in the construction and development of new water sources.
ABC President and City Councilor Marlo L. Tabac, who presided the assembly of 80 barangays, refused to comment on COWD’s presentation, hinting instead that the public hearings have been postponed. He is the chairman of Barangay Gusa – a semi-urban village where most of the underground water pipes need to be replaced. [Uriel Quilinguing]
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