MAYOR Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar announced she will formally ask the Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD) to forgo its plan to increase the water rates.
Salazar issued the statement after the ZCWD announced its plan to increase the water rate to finance its line up projects amounting to P5.34 billion.
The projects the water firm lined up are as follows: non-revenue water reduction program, P377 million; water services expansion program, P1.8 billion; water source augmentation and improvement program, P2.17 billion; facilities improvement and modernization program, P718 million; and, sewerage and sanitation service improvement and expansion program, P275 million.
The ZCWD seeks to increase by P93 to P278 from its current minimum rate of P185.
“We have to look into the books of the ZCWD and utilize existing funds from loans. Before we increase the rates, we have to provide better service to them, it’s just as simple as that, by looking at an area where to improve,” Salazar said.
Salazar also shared the idea of digitalizing the ZCWD to solve the problem of non-revenue water due to leakages, citing for example the command center of the city government that allows the police to prevent a crime incident without necessarily posting a policeman at the crime scene.
Engineer Marli Acosta-De Fiesta, ZCWD Engineering and Construction Department head, said they respect Salazar’s stand on the issue.
De Fiesta said they would want scheduling another meeting with the mayor to clarify matters pertaining to the rates increase. (SunStar Zamboanga)