• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Three Bacolod councilors are pushing for an ordinance that would grant a non-exclusive franchise to construct, operate, and maintain a water supply system for the highly-urbanized city.
Councilors Vladimir Gonzalez, Claudio Jesus Puentevella, and Renecito Novero, who authored the proposed ordinance that hurdled first reading during the Sangguniang Panlungsod session April 24, stressed that the “City today is faced with a water supply crisis”, despite the joint venture agreement between the Bacolod City Water District and PrimeWater.
Most of the service areas of Baciwa-PrimeWater are either suffering from frequent water interruptions and inadequate water supply, poor quality of water, or lack of supply, the councilors said.
“Bacolod is in need of a more efficient and effective water utility provider capable of constructing, commissioning, operating, and maintaining a water supply system that sufficiently addresses the public need and convenience of the people of Bacolod,” they added.
The proposal states that although there is already an existing water district which supplies water service to Bacolod consumers under a franchise granted via Presidential Decree 198, or the Water Utilities Act, “the city government, under existing laws, may also establish and provide for the maintenance, repair, and operation of an efficient waterworks system to supply water for residents and to purify the source of the supply”.
Under the proposed ordinance, the non-exclusive franchise shall be for 25 years, with the franchisee tasked “to finance, develop, improve, operate, and maintain all water source facilities, wells, pumping stations, water mains, pipes, fire hydrants, and other machineries and waterworks…supplying potable water to inhabitants” of Bacolod.
The franchisee shall be allowed to bill and collect payment from its customers for services rendered provided, that the former shall have secured the necessary water permit/s and certificate/s of public convenience from the National Water Resources Board, the proposal added.
It shall also pay to the city government P0.25 per cubic meter of water extracted and sold and paid for in the franchise area as environmental user’s fee, that shall fund the environmental protection and preservation projects in the watershed area of Bacolod and the North Negros Forest Reserve. | CGC
