HAVING another water utility service provider in Davao City will not be an issue for the Davao City Water District (DCWD), according to its spokesperson.
This is in response to the statements of Davao City councilors who are lobbying for more water service providers to operate in the city to improve the water service.
DCWD spokesperson Jovana Cresta Duhaylungsod said during SunStar Davao's online talk show The Talking Heads Friday afternoon, September 23, that, in fact, they are not the only water service provider in the city.
"Actually, it is not [Davao City] Water District alone that supplies water diri sa atoang siyudad (here in the city)," Duhaylungsod said.
In addition, she said that the service coverage of DCWD only covers 116 out of the 182 barangays in the city. Some of these barangays, she said, are not "fully served."
"Naay mga areas na partial lang ang atong water service. (There are areas in the city where our water service operation is only partial.) So with that said, there are other players dinhi sa atong siyudad (here in the city)," Duhaylungsod said.
She said some subdivisions have their own water service provider.
The official said their office respects the decision of the City Council if they will be giving a franchise to another player.
"If the Council, with due respect to them because we understand na ang ilahang (that their) concern and priority is the welfare sa mga (of the) Dabawenyo, we understand if they want to have another water service provider since it is already in the status quo, there's no problem with Water District," Duhaylungsod said.
On the part of DCWD, she said they will continue to improve and expand their services, regardless of the number of water providers operating in the city.
Councilors Bernie Al-ag and Conrado Baluran made the proposal during the regulation session on September 20. This, after consumers of the Davao City Water District (DCWD) had experienced poor water service last week.
Councilor Diosdado Mahipus Jr. also agreed that the city should consider approving another water supplier.
The city had previously approved a franchise to Helpmate Incorporated, but their operation is only limited, for now, in Buhangin District.
Mahipus said Helpmate intends to expand its operation "not to compete with DCWD, but to complement" its services by providing in areas that the water utility cannot service.
Meanwhile, Duhaylungsod said the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project (DCBWSP) can provide an additional 300 million liters per day to its consumers, once it is operational.
For now, she said they are currently implementing different strategies to ensure that amid the intermittent water supply, it will be restored within the 24-hour timeframe.
The spokesperson admitted that the growing consumption of water in Davao City and the setbacks on the operation of the DCBWSP had resulted in DCWD's current water supply under the "threshold" level.
"As it is right now, we can say that our available water supply is naa na gyud na siya sa (at its) threshold, especially pag-peak hours of water demand kay mag-doble man gyud na ang konsumo sa tao tapos sabay-sabay ang paggamit (during peak hours due to the double demand of the water caused by the increasing consumption, and simultaneous usage)," she said.