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[av_heading heading=’MIWD WARY OF COMPETITION Water district may take legal action vs new investor ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – If its interest is jeopardized, Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) may take legal action against a company reportedly planning to distribute water in this city, too.
Manila Water Philippine Ventures, Inc. (MWPV), a subsidiary of the country’s oldest conglomerate Ayala Corporation, recently wrote Mayor Jose Espinosa III expressing interest in meeting the city’s water supply and distribution needs.
“Our legal counsel will study which appropriate legal action to take,” said MIWD general manager Imelda Magsuci.
MWPV particularly wanted to apply for a franchise to distribute and sell water in the districts of Mandurriao, Molo and Arevalo.
According to Magsuci, the three districts are covered by MIWD’s franchise and the water district has an ongoing P40-million pipe-laying project to improve water distribution in these areas.
The project is set to be completed this Dec. 22, said Magsuci.
“We are the first to serve these areas and we have new water pipes to improve our distribution whereas sila ma-put up pa lang sang planta, pipeline,” said Magsuci.
She expressed confidence that residents of Mandurriao, Molo and Arevalo would keep their MIWD water connections.
Mayor Jose Espinosa welcomed MWPV’s interest to meet the city’s water requirements.
“Sa akon ‘ya basta public utilities…whoever can assure me of (good) service, welcome gid,” Espinosa told city hall reporters recently.
Magsuci said MIWD’s bulk water suppliers have already addressed the water supply problem.
“We are receiving 62,000 cubic meters of water each day from our bulk water suppliers while ang service connections ta lang are more than 38,000,” she stressed.
Improving water distribution and minimizing nonrevenue water (losses through leaks and illegal connect ions) are what MIWD is focusing right now, said Magsuci.
“Our nonrevenue water is about 38 percent,” she revealed. “This is why we have a massive program for the rehabilitation of our pipelines. Sobra na ang tubig ta, it just is a matter of ayusin namin ‘yung mga pipelines.”
Before this year ends, MIWD is awarding a P12-billion water distribution contract to joint venture partner MetroPac Water Investments Corp.
Meanwhile, Espinosa said he forwarded MWPV’s letter to the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s (SP) committee on public utilities for further study.
“Ang akon ‘ya theory kapin pa sa water, maayo pa nga mawad-an ka sang kuryente, indi lang tubig,” said Espinosa.
The chairperson of the committee on public utilities, Councilor R Leone Gerochi, welcomed MWPV’s interest to invest in Iloilo City.
MIWD could not fully meet the city’s water requirements, he said, and it may have spread itself too thin.
Aside from this city, MIWD also serves the nearby towns of Cabatuan, Leganes, Maasin, Oton, Pavia, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara.
“Lapad-lapad ang area nga ginaserbisyuhan sang MIWD. In Iloilo City alone, indi ang MIWD kaserbisyu, indi niya maubos,” said Gerochi.
The three districts where MWPV wanted to operate were smaller than MIWDs’, the councilor noted.
He did not see any legal conflict if the city government would allow another water distributor to come in.
There is no exclusivity of franchise when it comes to water distribution, according to Gerochi.
He also observed that through the years, MIWD had difficulty improving its service.
“Perhaps this is because MIWD did not have competitors,” said Gerochi./PN
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