CITY Hall may only be experiencing problems in its plumbing system, reason why water supply often fluctuates in some parts of the three-building complex.

The explanation came from Engineer Bievenido Batar, assistant general manager of the beleaguered Cagayan de Oro Water District (Cowd), as a response to Mayor Constantino Jaruala's complaint on the water utility's supposed helplessness in providing a stable water supply not only at City Hall, but in the entire city.

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Mayor Jaraula has repeated such complaint in the past two weeks, even joking that the amount of water coming out at City Hall's faucets were was comparable to a monkey's urine.

But Batar said poor maintenance of plumbing system may have contributed to the seeming low water pressure at City Hall, adding that repeated checks by Cowd technicians show that the problem could have not originated from their end.

City Engineer Jorie Bingona, who was alerted on the problem late last month, had promised to look into the matter, the Cowd official said.

Speaking in behalf of Bingona, Carl Carlson of the City Engineer's Office said repairmen had already fixed the roofing and gutter problems at City Hall.

He said City Hall's plumbing system was out of their scope, and that this was a task normally assigned to other departments.

Jaraula has railed against the purported lackluster performance of the water utility amid opposition to the proposed reservoir project in Barangay Indahag.

Batar and all division chiefs in the Cowd, including its labor union, have opposed the project not only because it will push the water utility into the brink of bankcruptcy, but also because the irregularities hounding the first water supply agreement with the contractor involved still hang to this day.

First, they pointed out that the awarding of its Bulk Water Supply Project (BWSP) to Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc. (RVWCI) has been declared invalid from the very beginning and is still awaiting legal resolution.

RVWCI had already been disqualified from the bidding before the contract was anomalously awarded to it in late 2004.

Last year, the Commission on Audit declared the contract as having been awarded without basis.

Consequently, state auditors disallowed the water utility's payment of P144 million to Rio Verde in 2007.

The disallowance is under appeal.

The 2004 signed contract, meawhile, is being investigated by the Ombudsman because of serious discrepancies in the original draft.

Among the major discrepancies:

* The insertion of a provision in the signed contract prohibiting the Cowd to procure bulk water from suppliers other than Rio Verde

* Diametrically opposed to the model contract, a provision in the signed contract allows RVWCI to sell its water to a third party

* The signed contract allows rate hike retroactive to the date the request was first made

But Batar, speaking in a press conference two weeks ago, said it was illogical for Cowd to pursue the reservoir project because its finances wouldn't allow it in the first place.

Cowd pays around P12 million to P13 million every month to RVWCI for the bulk water supply alone; P5 million is set aside monthly for its loans with the Local Water Utilities Administration.

Not only does the contract require the Cowd to cough up P6 million a month for the additional water supply from Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc. (RVWCI), it would also entail the construction of a multi-million piping system, said the Cowd official.

Under the proposed tripartite contract among City Hall, RVWCI and Cowd, the local government will undertake the construction of the reservoir; RVWCI will supply water equivalent to 10,000 cu.m. daily.

For Cowd, however, Batar said this would mean footing the bill not only of the additional water supply, but also of another 10,000 cu.m. supply "allowance", as stipulated in the proposed agreement.

Cowd is also expected to pay for the amortization cost of the pipelines and the reservoir.

The proposed agreement says City Hall will construct the reservoir using Cowd's annual financial aid to the local government amounting to P6 million, and the additional cost will be charged against the latter's water usage.

Jaraula has repeatedly cited the unavailability of water supply in Barangay Indahag in pursuing the project.

Batar said Cowd is expected to implement its expansion program in the next two years, which means upland villages like Barangay Indahag will finally have water connections by 2011.

After sitting as acting Cowd general manager for more than two months, Batar was replaced by an interim manager appointed by LWUA late last week, in response to a resolution passed by the COWD board of directors.

Flow, the water utility's union, fears that the entry of the interim manager would pave way to the reservoir project, which they say is onerous and highly irregular. (DVAIII)