BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The proposed bulk water supply project of the Negros Occidental provincial government could be the answer to Bacolod City’s water woes, according to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
The Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA), however, declined to cooperate with the proposed public-private partnership (PPP) project.
Lacson said BACIWA is likely confident it still has supplies for the next three years, thus the rejection.
According to the governor, however, BACIWA needed to make sure it still has a reliable water source to supply consumers three years from now.
Lacson admitted that BACIWA’s rejection could be a setback to the province’s bulk water supply project, pointing out Bacolod City is important in order to get a right investor for the project.
Lacson is also hopeful that Bacolod City’s Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez will intervene following a recent meeting with the Aboitiz & Company, Inc.
“As I said this water that we are supplying would be available three years down the line,” the governor added./PN
