Avarice delaying Butuan City water project

Last Sunday, the Inquirer reported on the serious lack of water plaguing residents of Butuan City. The problem started in December when floodwaters brought by Typhoon “Seniang” caused sand and silt to clog the filtration plant of the Butuan City Water District (BCWD), which suspects sabotage.

The heavy steel cover of one of the BCWD’s water-collecting manholes had been removed, allowing the silt- and debris-laden floodwaters from Taguibo River to enter and clog the filters as well as the collection and transmission pipes under the river, thus reducing the water supply to consumers. The BCWD closes those manholes during heavy rains precisely to avoid such clogging. The steel cover is very heavy, so it could not have been carried away by the strong current. Someone must have removed it, the BCWD suspects.

Who could have done it? Many Butuanons have an idea who would benefit from crippling the BCWD’s operation so that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan could declare a state of emergency, like it just did.

Now, during heavy rains, the BCWD does not have the capability to filter and treat the waters of Taguibo River, which is heavily silted and polluted because of mining activities and the construction of a road.

It has to rely on existing but inadequate deep wells, which at present can provide only 60 percent of the water supply in its service area. Where to get the other 40 percent is the problem.

Rationing through the use of water tankers and scheduling valve openings are currently being done to temporarily meet the residents’ water needs. Still, Butuanons are thirsty.

Even before running for mayor of Butuan in 2010, Ferdinand Amante Jr. knew of the looming water crisis. In fact, it was his promise of environment protection and sustainable development of the Taguibo watershed that led to his election. But after he was elected mayor, all those promises were forgotten.

In spite of the good intentions of the BCWD to expand its service even to the outskirts of the city, its outstanding loan from the Local Water Utilities Administration have constricted its financial ability to implement projects. This loan was used to connect pipelines from Anticala to Butuan City and procure additional micro filters.

Ironically, there has been a white knight since 2011 to save Butuanons from their water woes. This is Taguibo Aquatech Solutions Corp. (TASC), which submitted an unsolicited proposal in 2011 under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program.

The TASC proposal was open to public scrutiny from the onset. It got a favorable legal opinion from the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), and passed all the requirements of the National Economic and Development Administration. The proposal also passed a Swiss challenge when no qualified bidder contested it. It also won a court case filed by Councilor Sergio Pascual.

In short, all the documents needed for the deal are there for anyone to see. So what’s holding it up?

Not what, but who. And the answer is: Butuan City officials led by the mayor himself. They have been obstructing the implementation of the project every step of the way, like asking for more and more documents, in spite of the fact that the Neda and the OGCC had approved the project.

Two city officials who are brothers reportedly want to scuttle the project so it can be taken over by their preferred firm. Another official wants to give it to South Korean investors. Still another, a failed bidder in past BCWD projects, also wants a piece of the action.

All the obstacles put up by these officials have delayed this important bulk water supply project badly needed by Butuanons. The PPP project would mean not only lower water rates for city residents but also enough potable water supply even during summer. It has been in the pipeline since 2011 but it is only now that TASC, the private partner of the BCWD, has been able to start work on it because of the stumbling blocks put up by city officials.

It is not a question of money because the BCWD and the consuming public are spared from capital spending. The proponent will shoulder the estimated P500-million cost of the project. The BCWD is not going to spend a single centavo in designing, constructing, and operating the project but will pay TASC for delivering water to its main pipeline.

There will be no increase in water rates, either. Unlike the usual practice in other loan-generated projects of water utilities where a rate increase is required to make sure that the borrower can pay the loan, there will be no water rate increase in this PPP project. On the contrary, the rate, upon the request of the BCWD, was lowered from its original P14.5 per cubic meter to P11 per cubic meter.

What more can one ask for?