CAGAYAN de Oro City Council’s Majority Floor Leader Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya today is considering having other water supply franchises to address the gap between its current supply and the actual demand of consumers in its franchise areas.
Nacaya even said the city government needs to find an immediate solution, likely “desalinated” water as the city continues to face supply shortages, particularly in far-flung barangays.
“We should now return to work and comply with our campaign promise, to supply our constituents with water in their faucets,” said Nacaya adding “if COWD (Cagayan de Oro City Water District) could not.”
In his special report to the city council, Nacaya said he is calling to study the possibility of a desalination process as an option to produce potable water for city residents to address the supply shortage.
For a clean water system, he clarified the city council’s role regarding the failure of the water system to fully supply water to the city inhabitants.
Nacaya said the city council has to carry out other options to have other water supply franchises produce potable water in order to address the problem of the supply of water.
He said not with the COWD, the desalination process to produce potable water has already been discussed and studied with the USTP researchers.
“Without COWD, that’s (desalination of water) is one of the topics I’ve discussed with USTP researchers,” said Nacaya, adding that only to have a Memorandum of Agreement for the said study.
Nacaya also denied that the city council is having a plan to deregulate the water utility system in the city.
“It’s not true,” said Nacaya, adding that only the central government can change the structure and system of COWD.
“Our proposal is for the city government to support the needs of the concessionaires para ma fast-track ang services to supply water to our constituents,” Nacaya clarified.
Added to these interventions, according to Nacaya would be the zero-interest loan and investing in infrastructure, equipment, and materials so the connecting pipelines will be easier and faster.
Nacaya also said, in terms of business supplying water to the same constituents, he admitted the water concessionaires are competitors, also complementing.
“They can supply directly to the consumers like COWD, depending on their terms,” said Nacaya.
“What we hope for is more water enough to supply the needs of the consumers and more providers to compete for better service,” he added.
