Power, water firms ordered to agree on Tamugan River use

DAVAO City government has directed the city’s water district and power utility firm Hedcor to forge an agreement with regard the use of Tamugan River as both power and water sources.

In Friday's meeting of the City Peace and Order Council, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said both the Davao City Water District (DCWD) and Aboitiz-owned Hedcor must come into terms by March 20.

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"Bahala kayo kung ano gawin ninyo basta by the 20th, tapos na draft ninyo (It’s up to you to decide what to do, but by the 20th, your draft should have been done)," Duterte said.

He said he wants the ruckus between DCWD and Hedcor to be ironed out "so the next generation will not suffer as much as we are suffering now."

Both utility companies wanted to make use of the Tamugan River as their source of water for DCWD and power for Hedcor. The two, however, could not agree on where the "drop off" will be located.

It was learned that the Hedcor power plant that would be put up in Tamugan would give an additional 27 megawatts to the city's power supply.

After a long stand-off between the two utility companies, DCWD board of director vice chair Eliseo Braganza said they have finally reached a compromise with Hedcor.

Braganza said Hedcor has already submitted a proposal that is acceptable to DCWD.

There are still some points that need to be ironed out though, but the two companies have already agreed in principle on the use of the Tamugan River.

"There is an assurance that there would be no more controversy on the agreement," Braganza said.

The city's Watershed Code, however, prevents any development in watershed areas like Tamugan River. To this, Duterte said he will talk to the council and appeal to it to make a compromise that would allow Hedcor to put up a power plant.