By MARK FRANCISCO
AFTER a two-week Lent vacation, the City Council discussed once again the looming deadline of supplier Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water, Inc. (COBI) for its client, the government-run Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) to pay up.
At least for two of them.
And this time, it was COWD which was in the crosshairs.
Councilor Jose Pepe Abbu Jr. took the podium in their April 2 session and lambasted the water utility’s inefficiency in dealing with its wastage or what in their nomenclature is called non-revenue water (NRW) which is now at more than 50 percent.
This NRW is mostly due to leaks in the fortyish-year-old pipes of COWD, which is the oldest water district in the country outside the capital region.
“Even if we change our bulk supplier, the fact remains that our NRW is high,” Abbu, a member of the minority bloc, said.
“So for example, kung gabayad kita og dos mil (pisos) kada bulan, katunga lang ana ang kita sa Water District,” he continued.
COWD is locked in a 30-year-contract with COBI starting in 2018 with increases of at least P3 per cubic meter every three years.
But in 2021, the COWD management has contested the increase, citing a force majeure clause due to Covid-19.
The ensuring difference of amount plus arrears has caused COWD’s debt to balloon to P426 million.
COBI has threatened to disconnect its supply by April 12 if COWD could not meet its obligation, potentially affecting around 40,000 consumers.
“Ang yano nga mga tawo are not interested in the contract between COWD and whoever its supplier is. They only care that they’ll have water continuously running in their faucets,” Abbu said.
For the whole month of March, councilors belonging to the majority bloc took turns in lambasting what they call as a lopsided contract between COBI and COWD.
But they were noticeably silent on the matter during the session last Tuesday except for Councilor Joyleen Mercedes Balaba.
During an interview after the session, Balaba also questioned COWD’s priorities in not meeting its obligations.
“Ila man kana nga kontrata, sila man ang gasabot. Why pass on the obligation to the people?” Balaba said, referring to a P13.10 per cubic meter rate increase proposed by COWD supposedly to cushion COBI’s own rate increase.
“Kung ang end consumers dili makabayad, ma-penalize dayon, ma-disconnect dayon. Asa diay gipaingon ang ila kuwarta?” Balaba asked.
Balaba’s stance is a far cry from those of her colleagues in the majority who have been pinning COBI all this time.
With no one else interested in interpellating, Vice Mayor Jocelyn Rodriguez banged the gavel at 2:57 p.m. and referred Abbu’s report to the council’s committee on public utilities for action.
