ZAMBOANGA CITY Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar wants the water supply distributor to defer its proposed rate hike and first reassess its operations. Ms. Salazar, in a press briefing, said the Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD) must look at other ways to raise funds to implement its development plan. “We have to look into the books of the ZCWD and utilize existing funds from loans. Before we increase the rates, we have to provide better service to them, it’s just as simple as that, by looking at an area where to improve,” she said. The mayor cited that ZCWD can, for example, digitize some of its systems to address non-revenue water. “Utilizing digital technology will help us curve the system’s loss without necessarily increasing the cost of water,” she said. Marli P. Acosta-De Fiesta, head of the ZCWD Engineering and Construction Department, said during the same press conference that they “respect the mayor’s stand,” but will try to convince her of the agency’s need for the rate hike through further discussions. “We see the opposition as an opportunity to further explain to the public the necessity of water rates adjustment,” she said. ZCWD is proposing to increase rates within the first quarter 2020 to fund its P5.3 billion investment program for the next 10 years. The proposed new rates are P278 for the first 10 cubic meters from the current P185, and P39 for the succeeding 11–20 cubic meters from P26. “The P185 rate is applied as of to date which was proposed in 2011 and was implemented in the year 2015. Note the time difference from 2011 up to its standing implementation, 2019. The significant increase of inflation has taken its toll over the years,” ZCWD General Manager Leonardo Rey D. Vasquez said in a Dec. 18 statement. A series of public consultations are ongoing until Jan. 16. — MSJ

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