ZAMBOANGA City Water District (ZCWD) General Manager Leonardo Rey Vasquez has assured the public that the water source in the city is well secured.
Vasquez's statement came after reports said that the city's water source is vulnerable to sabotage by lawless elements like what happened recently in Maluso, Basilan.
The residents of Maluso have no water for the past several days as the Abu Sayyaf bandits bombed the pipeline of the Maluso Water District (Mawad) from its source.
“For the past two to three weeks, we have been discussing about it, the danger, and how best we can respond (to sabotage),” Vasquez said.
He assured the ZCWD concessionaires that there is sufficient number of guards posted in strategic places of the watershed, which has an area of 17,000 hectares, and treatment plants.
He said they are constantly in touch with the security forces and other concerned stakeholders that provide them vital information concerning the safekeeping of the watershed.
The ZCWD has also adopted a mechanism that would enable it to determine if and when the water source has been poisoned, Vasquez added. (Bong Garcia)