The water agency’s representative categorically told the members of the local legislative body that the DCWD is doing everything within its power to improve its water distribution service and that soon enough the daily water interruptions will be a thing of the past once all the programs and projects of the DCWD will be in place.
Well, such assurance from the water agency’s lady communications officer is a welcome one,
although it has to be admitted that in water utilities, as well as in power and communications, doing
away with outages is much easier said than done.
Meanwhile, no less than the top person of DCWD’s partner, a lady lawyer from Mintal, Davao City,
assured the members of the Davao City Council that by the end of the first quarter of 2023, the delivery
of bulk water by the Apo Agua, Inc. will be partially operational and this would mean a huge number of
consumers will have been relieved from their suffering of waterless days brought about, allegedly, by
the thinning supply of water that can be distributed to the individual household.
True or not we can only wait for the end of the first quarter of 2023 and after, the least that we can
do is to find out if the DCWD’s partner in the P12-billion water delivery project will be able to fulfill its
commitment.
For now, we just have to cross our arms in anticipation of the promised completion. But we need to
remind the DCWD’s partner in the project that it still has still a lot of things to do. From our almost daily
commute to Calinan Proper from our barangay resident in Talandang, Tugbok district, we have noted
that there is hardly any man found working in the stretch from our place to the more developed Calinan
proper.
It is in this situation that the DCWD’s promise of redemption of city residents from the apparently
weak water distribution service of the DCWD can only be attained if the agency’s partner in the bulk
water project will be able to meet their own commitment of partially accomplishing its water project.
With the DCWD partner failing to do so, it is as good as saying that DCWD is up for another round of
concocting half-truths just to appease disgusted water consumers.
The question though is, “How far can such scheme go given the present generation’s sophistication in
discovering even a company’s most hidden operational secrets?
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And talking of the DCWD-Apo Agua partnership we are still at a loss thinking which of the two entities
shall be responsible in fixing the other lane of the road where the canal excavation is not done?
Yes, we have no doubts that the restoration of the lane of the 2-lane barangay road that is excavated
by the contractor in the pipe laying work is the responsibility of the contractor-partner.
The question is, who shall take care of repairing the other lane that is now destroyed almost totally since vehicles using that side, whether coming from the city proper or coming into, have no other option but to use the same lane. With all kinds of vehicles allowed to use that particular side of the road, it did not take long
for the same lane to deteriorate in the fastest manner. Now who among those involved in the project
shall be responsible in restoring that side to its state shortly before the digging activities were started
some years back?
We assumed that it must be some times already since the first wave of earth digging was started still
some of the stretches where the excavation has remained uncovered with earth or mountain mix, any
passers-by can see thick grasses almost totally hiding the embankment from motorists’ view! These are
accidents in waiting especially for reckless motorists.
We believe really that this early – or late – the government who is the acknowledged owners of
roads, highways and similar infrastructures, should already make it clear to both the DCWD and its
partner firm in the temporarily stalled bulk water processing and delivery project who between them
should assist government, or totally restore the destroyed other lane. Or the government should now
apprise them as to up to what extent their responsibility shall be in rehabilitating the destroyed other
lane of the barangay road.
Using the road affected by the excavation work of the contractor is like going to hell. If one’s vehicle
is already old enough and rickety, the likelihood is that after the travel it could mean a trip to the
nearest shop.
If it is relatively new and is frequent to the shop for maintenance purposes, then checks are
important to prevent potential bigger damage,
