The contract between Cebu Manila Water Development Inc. (CMWDI) and Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) has been terminated effective December 1, 2023.
This was the announcement made by Gov. Gwen Garcia in the presence of Capitol lawyers and consultants during a press conference streamed live via Facebook on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
CMWD is a joint venture firm between the Cebu Provincial Government and Enrique Razon-led Manila Water Consortium which collects and treats surface water from Carmen town’s Luyang River in northern Cebu.
It then supplies 35 million liters of water daily to MCWD, benefiting at least six LGUs under the district’s coverage area, namely: Compostela, Liloan, Consolacion, Mandaue City, Cebu City, and Lapu-Lapu City.
The contract, finalized during the years when Gov. Gwen was not at the Capitol, fixed the water’s selling price at P24.59 per cubic meter until 2035 — a deal that is grossly disadvantageous to the province as it has no escalation clause despite the usual inflation rate that has to be accounted for in any business.
𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄
However, in order to maintain the status quo and avoid water shortage in parts of Metro Cebu due to the contract’s termination, Gov. Gwen said the Capitol will have to come in by buying water from CMWD and selling it to MCWD without any profit.
“The Province of Cebu comes in and deals directly with MCWD in a government and GOCC (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,” the governor explained.
Gov. Gwen believes this is the correct path to take, especially since her administration’s guiding principle has always been to ensure that the interest of the Province is protected.
She asserted that while Capitol has undertaken this move based on legal grounds, she’s also protecting the thousands of Cebuano consumers in those six Metro Cebu LGUs who are dependent on Carmen’s water supply.
“Challenge after challenge, as you have seen in the past; and again, we are facing the challenge of the supply of water and even the challenge of expensive rice. We will always, always try to look for the best possible solution that is doable, sustainable, and above all — legal. That has been my record and my reputation, and I do not intend to change that. And, of course, for always and above everything else, the benefit of the people must be upheld,” the governor said. | Carlo Lorenciana