BACOLOD City – Representatives from the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) and the Bacolod Bulk Water, Inc. (BBWI) are tentatively scheduled to appear before the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) Wednesday next week.
They were summoned over a cease and desist order that the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) issued on May 28.
The order prohibits Baciwa and BBWI from drawing water from Ngalan River in the nearby town of Murcia, Negros Occidental due to lack of an NWRB-approved permit.
In July, Councilor Ricardo Tan authored a resolution that ordered the water district and the city’s bulk water contractor to explain why they have sourced water from the river without informing the SP and the people of Bacolod.
Tan said the BBWI “simply took the convenience of ‘leasing’ the water permit of Baciwa over Ngalan River,” which is prohibited by law.
Baciwa general manager Juliana Carbon said she is still preparing a report to answer SP’s questions regarding the issue.
Meanwhile, the BBWI has sent Baciwa a notice informing the latter that it may stop supplying bulk water to the city.
BBWI chairman Ryan Yapkianwee said they cannot sustain their water supply services while not receiving payment from Baciwa.
Carbon said Baciwa received the notice on Aug. 7. She however added that it was “not final” yet as BBWI was still “contemplating.”
If it pushes with its plan, the BBWI will stop the operations of Injection Point No. 1 in Barangay Granda this Friday, as what the notice stated.
BBWI has charged Baciwa around P27 million for its bulk water services since November 2017.
Carbon said they already allocated funds to pay their dues to BBWI but “indi sia ma-release if the legal issues are not resolved.”
“There are still pending legal issues which have to be resolved with the NWRB and that is beyond our control,” she added./PN
