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Water Rate Hike Angers Bacolodnons
Like
their millions of counterparts in Metro Manila, Metro Bacolod’s consumers are
up in arms against planned water rate hikes which they consider unjust
considering the city water corporation’s poor service and its officials’
extravagant lifestyles. The unrest follows months of campaigns against
similar hikes in electricity consumption, tuition and other city woes.
By
Karl G. Ombion
Bulatlat.com
BACOLOD
CITY – The fight for consumer rights in this city is heating up anew following
the series of campaigns against the Power Purchase Adjustment (PPA), tuition
increases, traffic rerouting, housing shortage, widespread criminality and
assaults on property. This time around, city consumers are up in arms against
plans of the Bacolod City Water District (BACIWA) to hike its water rates by 34
percent or P38 per 10 cubic meter consumption.
Justifying
the water rate increase, BACIWA manager lawyer Vic Petierre last week said that
the proceeds will be used for the rehabilitation of its 27 wells and two spring
sources and for further expansion.
His
deputy, lawyer Juliana Carbon, also said that based on studies by BACIWA and the
Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) in 2001, Bacolod needs some 45,000
cubic meter of water a day; BACIWA production is only 34,000 or a shortage of
9,000 cubic meter. The studies also revealed that a household of 6-7 members
consumes an average of 33 cubic meter per month, which costs P393.70 under
existing rate, or P533 under the proposed rate.
The
two officials admitted however that out of the 61 percent of the city’s
population BACIWA services only 15 percent enjoys 24-hour water supply.
Hike
for loan servicing
Service
and not profit is the mission of BACIWA, a government-owned corporation. But
Dolfo Nales, spokesman of the National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo
Uno (Naflu-KMU), whose membership includes the BACIWA employees union, said that
the corporation has failed miserably to carry out its mission.
This
has resulted in BACIWA’s over-reliance on loans and continuous water rate
increases for income, he said.
Bulatlat.com
research here revealed that BACIWA failures have been aggravated by LWUA, a
government financing and lending agency, which has been reportedly marginalizing
provincial water districts with its onerous loans and exploitative professional
services.
For
instance, the Phase III loan of P537.6 million under the 20th yen
credit package of Japanese government was granted to LWUA at 3.5 percent
interest rate only. But when LWUA lent it to BACIWA it jacked up the interest to
12.5 percent, assuring itself of at least 9 percent
BACIWA,
on the other hand, is allegedly involved in similar dirty tricks, Nales said.
Bacolod
Councilor Archie Baribar meanwhile asked BACIWA where it will source its loan
payments when even its wells and water sources are said to have 10-15 years
lifespan only.
Moro-moro
Last
Sunday, the BACIWA management held a public hearing on its proposed water rate
hike at the Bacolod Arts and Youth Sports Center. The hearing was attended by
thousands of consumers and organizations, including representatives of the
Bacolod City council.
The
public hearing turned out unruly. Despite their well-prepared presentation of
its feasibility studies, statistics and projections, corporate officials failed
to answer squarely the public complaints, ranging from BACIWA onerous loans,
inefficient services, poor construction standards, lack of environmental
consideration to the extravagant lifestyles of the board of directors.
Many
consumers and cause-oriented groups who attended described the hearing as a
plain “moro-moro.”
As
this developed, the BACIWA Consumers Against Unjust Water Rate Increase (BAUWRI),
an alliance of several consumers groups, people’s associations and militant
mass organizations, launched over the weekend its weekly 3 p.m. picket outside
the BACIWA office to dramatize the people’s opposition to the latest water
rate increase. Bulatlat.com
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