The management of WITCO Construction and Development Corporation (WCDC), one of the contractors for the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project (DCBWSP), has permanently pulled out the engineer and safety officer from the said project following the incident on April 21, 2023, which caused the untimely death of one worker.
Three workers were rushed to the hospital by the Davao City 911 rescue team after experiencing difficulty in breathing while one worker was retrieved inside the pipeline by emergency personnel but was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) due to suffocation.
An investigation was immediately conducted to determine what had happened, whose responsible, and to provide immediate solutions to prevent a similar incident.
In a statement, WITCO said should there be any finding of negligence on the part of its supervising and safety officers on-site, the company will take full responsibility.
“We have started to undertake a comprehensive re-orientation among our project leads and workers to ensure strict compliance to Occupational Safety and Health Standards, retraining of all our manpower and reinforcing full compliance to the work permit system, among others,” it said.
The company has reached out to the affected workers as well as to the family of the deceased and has started to provide them with the needed medical and financial support.
“The safety lapses that have been identified in our investigation are now being addressed,” the statement said.
Currently, all works related to the DCBWSP have been temporarily suspended until such time that WITCO can fully implement corrective measures.
“WCDC is committed to doing all that is necessary to ensure that this incident will never happen again. Our sincere apologies to all those who have been affected by this regretful incident,” it said.
The DCBWSP of the Davao City Water District (DCWD) is one of the country’s largest bulk water supply infrastructure projects that will shift Davao City’s dependence from groundwater wells as its main water supply to the more sustainably-sourced surface water from the Tamugan River.
The DCBWSP involves two components: Part A component is handled by Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc. (Apo Agua) that involves the construction of raw water intake facilities, water treatment plant, and treated water pipelines; Part B is handled by the DCWD, which involves the tapping and interconnecting of pipes, installation of reservoirs and laying of distribution lines. The distribution of water to the consumers will remain solely with DCWD.
