CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The local government has devised contingency plans for prolonged water supply interruption.
During a strategic planning session on Thursday, members of the Task Force Water Supply suggested the setting up of "water bladders" or tanks in key drop-off points in the city's barangays.
Nic Jabagat, chief of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department, said they would coordinate with barangay officials who will identify the drop-off points together with the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD).
"Barangay officials will distribute water on the ground, and we'll provide them with water," he said, adding that water tankers would be deployed to augment their water supply efforts.
"The Bureau of Fire Protection will coordinate with volunteers (in the distribution of water to households), while we will also coordinate with COWD to identify nearby water sources," he said.
The contingency was formed to serve households that would be affected in case of disconnection of water service by the city's contracted bulk water supplier, the Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water, Inc. (COBI).
COBI served a fourth disconnection notice to COWD late last month, stating that the water district owes them PHP426 million in collectibles.
COWD and COBI are locked in an ongoing water rates payment dispute.
COWD cites force majeure or the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic as the basis for not settling the PHP426 million collectibles.
Mayor Rolando Uy recently created the task force to set up contingencies in case COBI disconnects its service to COWD, which COWD manager Antonio Young said would affect 40,000 households in the city's eastern side. (PNA)
