MCWD to Refer Regulation Policy Vs Competitors to LGUs

The Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) management on Monday said it will refer to the Cebu City local government units (LGUs) their problem to regulate the 150 water competitors who are also doing business like that of the MCWD.

MCWD General Manager Engr. Ernie Delco said they have no more choice but to tell the barangay chief executives about their problem and let them regulate the matter.

Delco said maybe the barangay leaders have their voice to stop the city government from allowing these suppliers to compete with MCWD.

“This could be done by totally stopping the yearly renewal of their business permit”, Delco said.

“If they have no more business permit that’s the time they will stop supplying water to the community”. Delco said.

Delco said MCWD, a Cebu City run water company, has earlier agreed to accept the products of private water suppliers. But they never allowed them to compete in water distribution against MCWD, especially to big consumers like hotels, condominium, malls, department stores and even households in the private areas.

What the MCWD wants, according to Delco, is to let these water suppliers provide water and do business only to MCWD and never directly to the public.

“Because supplying water to the public is a covenant of MCWD to the people, as mandated by law,” he added.

However, as a democratic country, the city government allowed these water suppliers to do their business too in the community like what the MCWD is doing by providing them business permit.

If this practice of the city government can be regulated through the barangay chief executives’ intervention, the MCWD assures the public to provide them water with a lesser and affordable price, Delco said.

However, in certain areas in Metro Cebu especially the elevated ones, MCWD water could hardly go upward to reach its supposed clients because of the low pressure. Some of the people in these areas preferred to have private water suppliers whose water pressure is strong enough to reach even to the poor household.

This was even admitted by Delco saying they are only supplying water to the 85 per cent of the total households of the whole Metro Cebu population.

But sad to note MCWD only served 43 per cent of the whole water demands in Metro Cebu areas, “so we really need LGUs support”, Delco said.