Cebu province, MCWD ink water pact

The provincial government of Cebu and the Metropolitan Cebu Water District recently signed an interim agreement for the procurement and sale of potable water by the province to MCWD.

The agreement came after bulk water supplier Cebu Manila Water Development decided to terminate its contract with MCWD for the supply of 35 million liters daily of water which started 1 December 2023 on grounds that the contract's no escalation clause is grossly disadvantageous to the firm.

With the termination, MCWD will have difficulty servicing its coverage from Compostela, Liloan, Consolacion and the tri-cities of Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu.

Under the agreement — signed by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and MCWD chairman Atty. Jose Daluz III — the Capitol will purchase bulk water at 35MLD from CMWD and sell it to MCWD at 24.59 per cubic meter.

The agreement will be 62 days which started 1 December 2023 to 31 January 2024 and a long-term agreement is expected to be signed by both parties.

CMWD is a joint venture agreement between Cebu Province and Enrique Razon-led Manila Water Consortium, it collects and treats surface water from Luyang River in Carmen town.

"The Province of Cebu comes in and deals directly with MCWD in a government and government-owned-and-controlled corporation interaction and offer to purchase the water from CMWD at the same price and sell it to MCWD at the same price," Garcia said.

She added that while the Capitol has undertaken this move based on legal grounds, she's also protecting the thousands of Cebuano consumers in six Metro Cebu local government units who are dependent on Carmen's water supply.