ACTING Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has signed the excavation permits requested by the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) that have been pending at the Cebu City Hall for more than a year.
With this development, the MCWD can proceed with the installation of pipes to supply water in the mountain barangays of Cebu City, which have never been connect to the water district.
Garcia signed the MCWD’s applications on Monday, May 27, 2024, in front of members of the media and MCWD management.
Members of the MCWD board led by its chairman Jose Daluz III were all present along with members of the MCWD executive committee and the president of the employees union, non-regular employees union, manager’s association and supervisor’s association.
Garcia said his policy is that of diplomacy, adding that the City Government can accomplish more when it negotiates peacefully rather than adopt an aggressive manner.
He said the permits had not been signed since last year. These were for the MCWD’s pipeline expansion projects in Barangays Agsungot, Binaliw, Busay, Cambinocot and Guba.
The application for the excavation permit in Cambinocot was submitted on May 11, 2023, while the one for Binaliw was submitted last July 3. The application for the permit in Guba was submitted last Nov. 11.
“We really mean business when it comes to providing water to our constituents and to show you nga ang MCWD ug Syudad sa Sugbo naghiusa (that the MCWD and Cebu City stand united),” Garcia said.
Garcia said if these permits were signed soon after they were submitted, residents of these mountain barangays would have had access to running water by now.
With the completion of these projects, the MCWD hopes to connect households in 11 mountain barangays.
MCWD information officer Minerva Gerodias said with the approval of excavation permits, the MCWD hopes to distribute to some 5,000 to 7,500 households.
Gerodias said the water district will distribute around 5,000 cubic meters of water daily to these barangays.
She said the MCWD targets to complete the expansion projects in six months.
Meanwhile, the acting mayor is looking at the possibility of a compromise agreement with the MCWD regarding the Cebu City Hall satellite building, which is located across the City Hall and is owned by the MCWD.
“Di na nato huwaton unsay hukom sa korte kay (Let’s not wait for what the court decides since) at any stage in the litigation both parties can always come up with a compromise,” Garcia said.
The City started occupying the building last July, but both parties failed to agree on the lease rate and terms.
Regarding the compromise agreement, Garcia said he cannot provide specific details for now; however, he instructed the acting city administrator to work with the legal department of the MCWD to look into the matter.
During last Monday’s press conference, Daluz thanked Garcia for looking after the welfare of the constituents.
He also announced that they started the commissioning of their first water desalination plant in Barangay Opao, Mandaue City last week.
He said they didn’t announce it back then because production was still unstable.
He said they hope the commissioning of their desalination plants in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City and Cordova will follow in July.
After Garcia signed the permits, MCWD general manager Edgar Donoso said they will issue a notice to proceed to their contractors who will be implementing the pipeline expansion projects.
Donoso said their time frame is six months, adding that 10 mountain barangays should have running water by then.
As for the interim board that the Local Water Utilities Administration appointed to replace them, Daluz said he already asked for its removal following the recent opinion of Office of the Government Corporate Counsel that favored them. / AML