HELPMATE INC., a Cebu-based water provider intends to expand the water service connection to other districts in the city.
On Tuesday, May 22, Councilor Louie John Bonguyan, committee chair on energy and water, said the proposal is still pending for a public hearing.
“Helpmate has been supplying water in some of the barangays in Buhangin district since 2018. The scope we provided to them is only Buhangin district,” he said.
The proposal of the water provider to expand is still at the committee level due to the need to secure permits from local government agencies.
According to reports in 2015, Helpmate proposed to kickstart the project in the Buhangin District in 2016. However, the Davao City Water District requested the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) to cease the project due to the alleged commencement of construction without permits.
The city council passed a resolution in 2017 urging the NWRB to approve the application of Helpmate to implement the water system in the district.
Bonguyan said the water source of Helpmate is the Davao River with its filtration system located in Tigatto.
He shared he was able to talk to some of the clients and there were no problems found in terms of suitability for drinking.
“That is why karon sa plano nila nga mag expand I’ll make sure that they will be supplying 24/7 potable water to their clients before we allow them to expand to other barangays,” he said.
Helpmate was also required to secure a barangay certificate from the barangays they service to verify the quality of their water supply.
Apart from DCWD and Helpmate, no other applicants are eyeing to supply water in the city, however, the council’s position is open to other players.
