On water and rice

Egay Uy

I CHOSE to be thankful for the official statement of the Cagayan de Oro Water District that it will continue to absorb the supposed increase in the price of the bulk water it receives from CDO Bulkwater Inc. (Cobi) in the amount of six pesos per cubic meter.

Roughly, consumers are avoiding more than sixty percent in additional water charges by this magnanimity of the COWD. From a few centavos over P10, we should have been paying a few centavos over P16. But no, the COWD will absorb this.

A public pronouncement says there will be no waterate increase in the next two years despite the increase in the acquisition cost from the new bulk supplier. If my memory serves me right, the increase will cost the COWD some P6 million per month.

That is a whopping P144 million in two years. Is the COWD that well-off to absorb this much money? Well, it remains to be seen.

***

In my capacity as the co-chairman of the CDO City Price Coordinating Council, I joined Councilor George Goking and Ms. Roxy San Juan of the DTI Provincial Office in a meeting with NFA officials last Feb. 6.

Earlier, Councilor George and I both expressed our concerns regarding the reported shortage of NFA rice. This was in the news, that NFA rice was only good for two days, a far cry from the supposed 15-day buffer stock on ordinary months and 30 days during the lean months of July to September.

NFA Regional Director Nanding Nunez revealed that NFA supplies rice to only six percent of the retailers in the market. Thus, the commercial rice traders have a big role to play in the stability of the supply of rice.

If the NFA were to supply the entire daily consumption requirement of Region 10, its supply, net of deliveries to Marawi, the Armm and Caraga, would have lasted only two days. But no, since the NFA’s market share is only six percent, its stock could actually last for more than 30 days.

The NFA has five priority areas where to deliver its supply.  Understandably, the CSWD leads the priority list, followed by the national disaster reduction council and the Office of the Civil Defense. Local governments are the third priority followed by non-governmental organizations.

The last in the priority are retailers.  Is this because most of the beneficiaries of the deliveries in the priority list are themselves most likely to buy supply from NFA retailers?