By LITO RULONA
Correspondent
THE city council’s public utilities committee would summon officials of the Cagayan de Oro Water District next week over complaints about the scarce water supply in western areas of the city.
Councilor Teodulfo Lao, the committee’s chairman, said COWD officials should answer the complaints and shed light on the matter.
Lao said the committee meeting that is still to be scheduled next week would be open to consumers with complaints against the COWD.
On Monday, Councilor George Goking said he would bring the water crisis gripping many parts of the city to the attention of the local legislature.
He said he and his family were affected, too. The Gokings live in Carmen, the city’s most thickly settled barangay.
The water supply in many areas of the city became scarcer on Tuesday last week when COWD’s bulk water supplier, Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc., started repairing a leaking main steel pipe submerged in the Cagayan River.
Ladelle Sagrado, COWD spokesperson, said the water district was informed by Rio Verde yesterday that the damage was caused by river debris.
She said the repair was ongoing as of yesterday morning but Rio Verde has yet to inform COWD exactly how much longer it would take for it to fix the problem.
But the water crisis, according to Goking, has already been gripping parts of the city long before last week “unya misamot tungod kay wala man kini nila hatagi og pagtagad nga mga reklamo.”
Not only has the crisis inconvenienced households, it has also resulted in business losses, said Goking who chairs the city council’s trade and industry committee.
“Naa man gani tubig sa gabii pero lubog kaayo. We are now experiencing the worst and poorest COWD service. Dili ra ba gatubag kung mangutana kita,” he said. “Ang uban nabilar og wala na ka-trabaho kay sige na lamang og atang when mo-agas ang tubig.”
Goking said the city’s water supply problem should be addressed immediately given that the city is fast becoming a metropolis based on the assessment of the National Economic Development Authority.
He said the city cannot afford to have “worst and terrible basic services.”
Some of the areas bad affected aside from Carmen are Patag, Kauswagan, Bonbon, Bayabas, Bulua up to Iponan. The adjacent town of Opol in Misamis Oriental also felt the effects of the crisis.
Officials said there were also complaints even from barangays like Nazareth and Macasandig.
Goking said it is ironic that COWD just celebrated its 44th anniversary. The water district started serving the city on Aug. 1, 1973.
“The longer the years they have been in public service, the more they must be answerable. Kung dugay na dapat nindot na unta kaayo ang ilang serbisyo,” Goking said.
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