Thursday, June 28, 2007 Water adjustment looms, but spares tuna industry
PRICE of water in General Santos City will increase starting next month by at least P22 per 10 cubic meters, a development that does not augur well to the city's residents but won’t have effects on the operational costs of tuna canneries here.
Jose Valenzuela, a board of director of the General Santos City Water District, said they were forced to increase billing for water since they are operating at a loss.
"We're at the point where if we won't increase water charges, we would cease to exist," he said.
Effective July 1, Valenzuela said minimum water charges will be raised to P192 a month from P169.60 observed since January 2003.
The increase, he noted, would allow the water utility firm to pay the 10 percent salary increase sought by workers, the two percent franchise tax from its gross revenue and maintenance of its fire hydrants, among others.
Valenzuela said they regret having to announce the looming increase in water charges as consumers complained of its ill-timing with the recent opening of classes.
"This is another burden to our already shallow pockets, coming at the heels of the resumption of classes of our children," said water consumer Jona Balanag.
She appealed for the utility firm to defer the increase in deference to expenses incurred by parents during the school opening.
Balanag, whose household has at least a dozen members, noted her budget would definitely be affected once the water price adjustment takes effect.
She lamented that the water utility firm did not give prior notice to household consumers before breaking the announcement to the local media.
Balanag said an awareness campaign would give consumers the chance to prepare for the adjustment even as she revealed her plans to contain its effect to her own budget.
She said instead of throwing water used after laundry, she will use them to water the plants.
Mariano Fernandez, president of the Tuna Canners Association of the Philippines-General Santos chapter, said the water adjustments would have effects to consumers but not to the tuna canning industry.
"The canneries have their own water sources outside the sphere of the local water district. The industry will not be affected by the water price increase," he said.
But in the long run, once the local water utility decides to control water sourcing as mandated to it, we have no other recourse but to consume our water requirements from them, said Fernandez, also the general manager of Ocean Canning Corp.
If that scenario takes root, which he said will happen in the long term, the tuna canneries would definitely feel the crunch.
This city is the undisputed "Tuna Capital of the Philippines," being the host of six of the country's eight tuna canneries.
The tuna industry is the main driver of growth for the city and depended by tens of thousands of people for employment and livelihood.
