BY CRIS DIAZ, Executive Editor
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY: Nine upland villages of this port capital of Northern Mindanao needs about P200 million to address the water shortage of its over 300,000 residents, a lawmaker said Friday.
Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of the city’s second congressional district, said that he would include the P100 million in the department of public works and highways (DPWH) 2023 national budget for the development of a spring water that would supply water in the city’s upland villages here.
Rodriguez identified these upland villages as Upper Bugo, Upper Puerto, Balubal, Tablon, Indahag, Cugman, Upper Gusa, F.S. Catanico, and Upper Agusan, all in the city’s second congressional district.
The population in the nine villages might be over 300,000 with Upper Bugo topping the list with almost 32,000 people while the smallest village F.S. Catanico has over 2,000 people.
According to Rodriguez, he already met with officials of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) and highway officials to address the water shortage in the nine upland villages here.
He said that highway and water district officials here could develop the spring water sources in Malasag, a watershed in Cugman and in Palalan, Tablon to supply potable water in the city’s upper villages.
Apart from the spring water sources, the COWD would negotiate with the Manolo Fortich bulk water supply, a town in the border of Cagayan de Oto and Bukidnon, to connect to Balubal, Upper Puerto, and Upper Bugo. -0-
