COWD: Paper got story on water woes all wrong

By CONG B. CORRALES
Associate Editor .

THE Cagayan de Oro City Water District called out a local daily here over a serious factual error in a news report it bannered yesterday.

COWD chairman Eduardo Montalvan said it was a big mistake for Sunstar-Cagayan de Oro to report that the damaged pump impeller shaft, which caused problems in the city’s water supply, belongs to the water district.

Neither did the COWD order a replacement part nor is it repairing the damaged water pump contrary to what the newspaper reported, he said.

Montalvan said the damaged pump impeller shaft belongs to COWD’s supplier Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water Inc. (Cobi).

In an announcement, COWD stated that Cobi has asked for more time to repair the pump because of the extent of the damage.

But the erroneous news report, attributed to COWD spokesperson Ladelle Sagrado, missed out on Cobi — not one sentence was in reference to the bulk water supplier — making it look like the mechanical trouble was entirely COWD’s.

“Oh-oh, not again,” said Sagrado over the newspaper faux pas. She did not elaborate.

Montalvan clarified that COWD neither owns nor operates the Baungon, Bukidnon water treatment plant where the pump impeller shaft was damaged.

“Kanang gina-repair nga bomba is owned by Rio Verde. Pero ang naga-operate ana is Cobi. Sila ang nag-order sa replacement part gikan sa Manila,” Montalvan said.

Montalvan said the replacement part needs to be sent to a machine shop for retrofitting. Cobi, he said, requested COWD for a listing of local machine shops that could modify the replacement part.

He added: “Ang pagefer lang sa ila (Cobi) og machine shop kutob ang among involvement anang repairs. Dili na tinuod ilang report.”

Montalvan said he could not understand how the newspaper bungled its own report when the issue about the damaged pump impeller shaft has been running for about a week now, and given COWD’s announcements.

Montalvan is not a stranger to news media work — he used to be publisher and editor of a weekly newspaper in the city. He is also a former president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club.