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[av_heading heading=’Reject MetroPac deal – ad hoc committee ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – An ad hoc committee recommended that the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) reject the proposed joint venture project of the MetroPac Water Investments Corp.
MetroPac offered to rehabilitate Baciwa’s distribution lines within 30 years under a build-operate-transfer scheme.
Under the National Economic and Development Authority guidelines, an ad hoc committee shall look into the proposal.
Ad hoc committee member Claudio Salmo, Baciwa Employees’ Union president, said they cited an Office of the Government Corporate Counsel opinion that the proposal “lacked due diligence and feasibility study.”
But Salmo said it was just a recommendation. “We (the ad hoc committee) are just part of the requirement.”
The Board of Directors will still have the final say, he stressed.
Baciwa’s employees and the Utilities Consumers Alliance of Negros (UCAN) were opposed to MetroPac’s proposal.
They feared it would lead to the privatization of the water district and thus expose concessionaries to profiteering.
The ad hoc committee was led by Assistant General Manager for Administration Samuel Penado as chairperson and Assistant General Manager for Operation Jennelyn Gemora as vice chairperson.
Members included Christine Polanas (finance), Diana Peitan (legal), Gino Amantillo and Rommel Paredes (technical), and Salmo and Joevanie Padilla (employees union).
The Sangguniang Panlungsod, upon the request of the UCAN, will also look into MetroPac’s proposal.
The committee on communication, information technology and energy was supposed to hold it on Friday but had to reschedule it to Oct. 25./PN
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