By MARK FRANCISCO
CAGAYAN de Oro Water District (COWD) general manager Antonio Young assured the public that the government-owned provider is doing its best to settle its obligations with its bulk supplier Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water, Inc. (COBI) which provides water to 70 percent of its consumers in the western part of the city.
In a press conference January 16, Young said that the P437 million debt of COWD stemmed from a contested price of water per cubic meter that the utility was purchasing from COBI.
But Young told the media that COWD has never missed its monthly obligations based on the uncontested price of P16.60 per cubic meter.
Yet in 2021, COBI increased its rates to P20.57 per cubic meter and to P24.19 effective this month.
Young said that COWD is contesting the new rates, citing Section 10 of their 2017 contract with COBI that the client could invoke force majeure in not honoring the increase which was the Covid pandemic in this case.
“COWD wishes to inform our customers and the public in general that negotiations are currently going on between COWD and COBI relative to accounts billed by the latter against the water district,” Young said in a prepared statement.
This, even as Young disclosed that they are exploring other alternatives including the mobile delivery of water to affected areas and rationing of water in the western district should negotiations with COBI fail.
In a letter, COBI informed COWD that they will immediately halt the supply of water to the utility until full satisfaction of outstanding payables are filled.
COBI is a joint venture between Metro Pacific Water and COWD, sourcing out its water from Bubunawan river in Baungon, Bukidnon.
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