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Saturday, November 22, 2003
Bid to stop DCWD drilling baseless: Lopez
By Aurea A. Gerundio
IF DAVAO City Water District (DCWD) will stop drilling operations in Dumoy, water supply in the City's second district will drop because of its elevation.
This according to DCWD Commercial Manager Dominador Lopez in reaction to the pending proposal of Councilor Liborio Lumain to approve a resolution requesting the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) to revoke drilling permits issued to DCWD.
"He (Lumain) has not even diagnosed the situation properly yet he is saying that the drilling be stopped," Lopez said. He disclosed that during pipe bursts in Dumoy, areas in the second district--particularly the elevated areas in Buhaning and Sasa--are the first affected. "It will get worse if our drilling will be stopped. It will have a big effect on our service to the second district," he added.
Lopez said the Dumoy water source serves about 15,000 households in the second district; it also supplies most of the water needs in Davao City.
"If he fears that continued drilling will cause seawater to seep in, that is baseless. Even beach resorts have wells and when you test water samples, they're not salty, even when we are already very near the beach," Lopez said.
He denied accusations that DCWD has been complacent on the problem of minimal water supply in the second district.
"DCWD is doing its best to sufficiently provide water to all the residents here," he said.
He also denied the DCWD is still using asbestos pipes, which is said to cause cancer, for the water transmission. He added that since 1973, steel pipes and PVC pipes have been used.
Not even Juna Subdivision, one of the oldest subdivisions here, has asbestos pipes as alleged, he said. Rust-proof steel pipes have been set in place in the subdivision, he added.
Meanwhile, Councilor Liborio Lumain has urged DCWD to concentrate on putting up satellite water districts in areas with insufficient water supply, than continue the drilling operations in Dumoy.
Lumain said even with drilling wells, there is still no water to be found in the second district.
He added he is inclined to believe rumors that DCWD funded various non-government organizations (NGO) working for the protection of the watersheds to raise issues against plantations, thus, diverting from the issue of drilling operation lapses.
(November 22, 2003 issue)
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