Watchdog group seeks probe on LGU failure to solve Butuan water crisis

BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – A citizens’ watchdog wants a congressional inquiry into what it said has been the lingering water crisis here amid allegations of irregularities and corruption hounding the city’s lone water distributor.

Michael Torralba, convenor of the Butuanon Action for Transparency, Efficiency and Accountability in Governance (Bateag) said a probe would look into the failure of the Butuan City Water District (BCWD) in solving the water shortage affecting the city for nearly a decade now.

Torralba said the BCWD has miserably failed the city’s 38,000 water clients despite the P1-billion loan package it earlier secured for facility upgrade, and imposition of water rates, considerably among the highest in Mindanao.

“The inquiry will ferret out the truth about the severe water shortage in Butuan. For nearly a decade, the BCWD has miserably failed us Butuanons,” Torralba told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Torralba also accused Mayor Ferdinand Amante of insensitivity and a lack of political will to take action against the BCWD purported ineptness and insincerity, which he said, bolstered suspicions that the crisis was merely “staged” to benefit vested interests.

The water shortage worsened when Typhoon Seniang struck last week with most inhabitants relying on rations and bottled water to meet their daily water needs.

The crisis has literally brought the entire city into a standstill, paralyzing businesses and communities, sparking massive public outrage with irate residents threatening violent mass actions and civil disobedience against BCWD for its dismal service.

A signature campaign has been launched by Bateag to drum up more public support for a probe and demand accountability from BCWD.

Anselmo Sangtian, general manager of BCWD, said efforts have been started to solve shortage.

The perennial heavy downpour, which caused turbidity in water sources, has forced them to shut down water filtration facilities and pumping stations, he said.

Sangtian, who has rejected calls for his resignation, pinned the blame on illegal mining, logging activities and ongoing road constructions inside the Taquibo Watershed Area in Barangay (village) Anticala as main culprits behind the crisis.

To put an end to the crisis, Sangtian said they entered into a 25-year P500-million Bulk Water Supply and Water Treatment Project with water firm Taguibo Aquatech Solutions and Twin Peak Hydro Resources.

The project was expected to generate water in June.

For his part, Amante blamed the local opposition for the continuing crisis, which he admitted has already affected the city’s competitiveness and has driven investors away from the regional capital.

Had there been no opposition to the Private Public Partnership water project, which the BCWD entered into, the city’s water problem would have been a thing of the past, Amante said.

“Because of the question raised against the BCWD contract with Twin Peak, the project has been delayed for six months now,” Amante said.

The contract was brought to court for lack of public bidding, non-disclosure of its stipulations and environmental issues, among others.

Councilor Serge Pascual, a critic of Amante, said the contract must be nullified because it was highly questionable and anomalous. The company, he said, cornered the contract even if it had no proven expertise and technical background.

The newly incorporated water firm, according to Pascual, is a sister company of the Equi-Parco Construction Company, which is owned by a known Amante protégé and election funder.