By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — Some sectors are against the plan for the Murcia Water District (MWD) to supply water to the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa).
They included no less than Murcia Mayor Andrew Montelibano, according to Baciwa director Marichi Ramos.
Ramos said some MWD officials were also having second thoughts on the proposed memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the two water agencies.
She said Montelibano argued that there is not enough water for consumers in Murcia.
Ramos, together with Baciwa chair Lawrence Villanueva and some MWD officials, conducted an ocular inspection of the proposed water source on Wednesday.
She said they discovered that the water source was in Brgy. Alangilan, Bacolod City — not Brgy. Alegria, Murcia, as stated in the MOA.
Ramos personally met with Montelibano, who expressed opposition to the plan.
Three MWD officials who went with them during the inspection expressed hesitation in pushing through with the MOA signing, she said.
MWD has claimed that their consumers use only 28 liters per second (LPS), and that it can produce as much as 38 LPS and can thus sell 10 LPS of excess water to Baciwa.
It was found out, however, that MWD could hardly supply the Murcia consumers’ 48 LPS peak-hour water needs.
Ramos also said that MWD has no permit to use surface water from the springs with reservoir in Brgy. Alangilan here and that it pays taxes in Bacolod City.
She said they have gathered that, some three years ago, there was only an estimated 1,500 families consuming water from MWD’s source.
MWD now has 2,500 families as paying consumers, which the water district could barely serve well, she said./PN
