CdO mayor gets emergency powers to deal with water crisis
Mayor Uy deploys police to guard a water treatment plant valve to prevent it from being turned off
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Daily TribuneMayor Uy deploys police to guard a water treatment plant valve to prevent it from being turned off
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Photo courtesy of COWD
Cagayan de Oro City — The city council passed a resolution granting Mayor Rolando Uy powers to declare a state of emergency and address the water crisis during a special session late Wednesday afternoon.
The resolution also authorized the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) to make an emergency bulk purchase of water from the Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc. and other independent water concessionaires to ensure water supply to the city in response to a notice of disconnection from the Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water Inc. (COBWI).
COBWI reportedly threatened to shut down the water supply to COWD if it fails to meet the 30 April deadline to settle P400 million in unpaid water bills.
The disconnection notice caused panic among residents who began stockpiling water in their homes. However, in an advisory COWD has assured the public that water supply will continue as contingency measures have been put in place.
In a press briefing, council majority leader Edgar Cabanlas said households should not suffer from the COWD-COBWI dispute on unpaid water bills.
“City Hall under Mayor Rolando Uy can exercise its police powers to ensure a continuous water supply to the people of Cagayan de Oro City,” Cabanlas said during a press briefing held at the City Council session hall after 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Uy issued an executive order before dawn Wednesday deploying a Special Weapons and Tactics team to the main Rio Verde water treatment facilities to prevent COBWI from shutting down the water supply to COWD.
The mayor said he issued the order at 1 a.m. after receiving a report that COBWI was ordered to shut down the water supply to the city.
“I used my police powers to ensure water supply in the city (continues),” he said in a radio interview.
I requested the police to provide security and to ensure nobody touch the water valve lines,” he added.
Cabanlas said the deployment of the police is one of the recommendations of the city water task force as thousands of residents in the city would be affected by a water supply shutdown.
Cabanlas said the contingency plan is to seek an injunction from the local court against the stoppage order of the COBI to Rio Verde.
