Waterfront brgys, MIWD ink MOA on sale of potable water
Starting Monday Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) will already leave to the four waterfront barangays suffering from low water supply the distribution and sale of water within their territorial jurisdiction.
A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was entered into by MIWD and waterfront barangays, namely, Ortiz, Monica, Zamora-Melliza and Muelle Loney to formalize the said scheme yesterday.
At present, the said waterfront barangays are suffering from low water supply to no water supply due to low water pressure.
Waterfront barangays are considered within the end portion of the Iloilo City proper area reason why water supply from MIWD could hardly reach them.
City Proper Liga ng mga Barangay head Roberto Divinagracia said MIWD has been supplying water from its own tanker to the said barangays for free. Other residents buy water from private water tankers.
“MIWD management informed us that they will no longer give free water to the waterfront area, they will already sell it so the concerned barangays entered into a MOA with them,” Divinagracia said.
“The residents there have no choice. MIWD water can't reach their pipelines,” he added.
According to the MOA, a copy of which was obtained by The News Today, the MIWD will deliver potable drinking water to the four barangays at bulk rate of P80.00 per cubic meter and at a quantity depending on the size of the water tank provided by the barangay.
The MOA also stated that MIWD will deliver water from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and it will take charge to disinfect and sanitize the container provided by the barangay.
On its part, the barangay is tasked to provide at least two cubic capacity water tank and to conduct distribution and retail sale of water to all residents who are willing to avail of the services.
The MOA also said that the barangay shall pay the MIWD at the first or second day of the following month after supply and delivery of the water.
The barangay is also tasked to ensure protection of the water tank and provide cleanliness and sanitation of the same after initial disinfection and sanitation by MIWD.
Divinagracia said public consultations will still be conducted by the concerned barangays to determine the price of the water to be sold to the residents.
“Definitely it will be sold at a lower price so that it will not be a burden to the residents,” Divinagracia said.
Divinagracia noted that the MOA between the waterfront barangays and MIWD is beneficial to the people as deepwells in the waterfront area are already declared unsafe for consumption.
Earlier studies have shown that deepwells in the waterfront area were found to have saltwater intrusion and have high level of coliform bacteria.