The Davao City Council was keen on conducting an inquiry on what it termed as ‘lingering water crisis in Barangay Cabantian,’despite the promise of the Davao City Water District to address the problem.
Councilor Diosdado Mahipus in his privilege speech said that inquiry will determine why the DCWD has failed to provide enough water for the barangay for nearly a decade now.
“The inquiry will ferret out the truth about the severe water shortage in Cabantian and other areas in Davao having the same experience,” Mahipus pointed out.
The water shortage worsened in the Cabantian area, according to Mahipus, when all applicants for land development industry applied for a locational clearance and came back saying “it [the place] is good for locational settlement,” hence applied for a construction permit.
“We all know that there must be a certification from DCWD at they can provide potable water to the subdivisions and settlements, and no development permit can be granted unless provided with the certificate,” Mahipus stressed.
He added that the certifications given to the communities in the area have “empty” assurances, leaving most inhabitants relying on water rations from Dumoy to meet their daily water needs.
Mahipus stated that the DCWD only assured that the pipes are already placed, and until now the residents still haven’t received any stable water supplies for them.
“You cannot leave them in that situation; we are not living in Uganda or the deserts of South Africa, but the site reflects how people in those areas who do not have potable water are experiencing, it is sad,” he added.
Mahipus pointed out that there are many water resources in Davao City such as Davao River, Tamugan River, Lipadas River, and many private sectors wanted to apply for a water system operations.
“We are in a situation where we have plenty of water in the city, and the DCWD has the authority to utilize the water unless the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) grants permits to the private companies to operate in Davao City,” he said.
NWRB is the government sector’s agency that is responsible for ensuring the optimum exploitation, utilization, development, conservation and protection of the country’s water resource.
Mahipus suggested that NWRB should stop entertaining the “opposition” of the DCWD and allow private companies the opportunity to assist in the distribution of water because of their limited pipelines and capability to provide supplies.
“Davao City has been taking pride that the city has clean water and has the best water reserves in the world, but how can we truly be proud if the residents in the area do not have water to drink?” he wondered.
Why did the local govt of Davao allow construction of so many subdivisions in the cabantian area? This is the very reason why there is a water shortage in that area.