PrimeWater makes SAME OLD PROMISES

We're talking about the promises made by PrimeWater Infrastructure, Inc., to the media and to their consumers in San Pedro City, Laguna who, for seven years, had to endure a nightmare of interrupted water supply as well as the poor quality of the water being served to them.

That was the impression given by officials of PrimeWater after a meeting with the San Pedro Water District (SPWD), the main water supplier of the city which entered into a joint venture agreement with the Villar-led private company, officials of PrimeWater, and OpinYon Laguna last October 24.

City government’s warning

The meeting had been called, ostensibly, to give PrimeWater a chance to air its side of the one issue that had plagued its consumers for years: poor water service.

This, after no less than Mayor Art Joseph Francis Mercado warned in his October 10 State of the City Address (SOCA) that the city government, apparently fed up with the barrage of complaints against PrimeWater that its Ugnayan sa San Pedro (USAP) program received, will soon impose penalties against the water service provider.

That same warning had given PrimeWater consumers in San Pedro City enough courage to urge the city government to reconsider or even terminate the joint venture agreement the SPWD entered into with PrimeWater in 2015.

What emerged from that meeting with OpinYon Laguna, SPWD and PrimeWater officials was the same old promises that measures are being taken to address the perennial water interruptions that its consumers face.

‘Only’ 3,000 households affected?

In their own report during the meeting, PrimeWater San Pedro City Branch Manager John Paul Pascual even claimed that “only” 3,000 out of the 35,000 accounts currently serviced by PrimeWater in the city experience interrupted water services.

Most of these water interruptions were reported at subdivisions and housing projects located on the western side of San Pedro City, where Pascual said PrimeWater delivers water rations to affected residents.

However, it should be noted that complaints sent by consumers to OpinYon Laguna’s social media pages have negated the branch manager’s statements, with residents claiming that no water was ever delivered to them during water service interruptions.

"Ang isang concern po kasi natin sa San Pedro is, part ng lugar po natin is mataas, kaya mahirap iakyat ang tubig mula sa baba na siya namang recommendation dito," Pascual explains.

He added that a deep well project at a subdivision in Barangay San Antonio is expected to be finished “soon,” which should provide 260 accounts with a steady water supply, while a pipe-laying project that will benefit a housing project on the western portion of the city is now 90 percent complete.

Projects are now also underway to increase the capacity of PrimeWater to deliver to the so-called “Upper Villages,” where water interruptions are also commonplace, the branch manager said.

The water service provider is also looking into tapping Laguna de Bay as an additional water source, following the recommendations of the SPWD.

“Hopefully, by the end of the year, maresolba na natin ang mga problema natin sa mga ‘upper villages’ natin after we implement these projects,” Pascual said.

Notably, these are the same promises PrimeWater had made when OpinYon Laguna had first raised the issue way back in 2019.

Poor response

Another issue tackled during the meeting was the alleged failure of PrimeWater to promptly send appropriate responses to residents complaining of poor water service, either through their hotline or through social media.

SPWD general manager Guillermo Pili explained that the IT system they were using had not been updated and that they had tasked PrimeWater to update the system for a better response to customer complaints.

“Under the terms of our contract, tayo pa rin po [SPWD] ang responsible sa customer service, so kami po ang magre-resolve ng issue,” Pili told OpinYon Laguna, adding that the lack of a proper system for handling consumer complaints had resulted in people reaching out to him on his personal social media accounts to try to address their issues with PrimeWater.

Nevertheless, SPWD officials said PrimeWater had promised to upgrade their customer service system to ensure that complaints about water service will receive prompt action.

Again?

Legal penalties

During the meeting, Pili also said the public water service provider has already given PrimeWater at least 30 to 60 days to resolve the issues of lack of water supply in their concession area.

When asked by OpinYon Laguna on whether SPWD or the local government of San Pedro City has considered terminating its JVA with PrimeWater, Pili explained that there are certain procedures they have to go through should they decide to deliver the “ultimate penalty” to the private company, based on complaints from consumers.

In the meantime, SPWD is also looking into other means of pressuring PrimeWater to deliver on its mandate.

"Kung may mga failure to deliver service obligations, we [SPWD] have the right to call for a performance bond [a guarantee that a contractor will complete a construction project according to the agreed upon contract] within the year. This time, we’re serious in calling for the performance bond,” he said.

Tellingly, both SPWD and PrimeWater did not elaborate on how these “performance bonds” will be implemented. And to PrimeWater consumers, such legal terms make no sense to them – not that they really matter.

There's only one question these customers have been asking all these years: when will our nightmare with PrimeWater end?

And if it’s clear that the same old promises and pledges are being rehashed over and over again, shouldn’t the city government take the ultimate step (read: penalty) and revoke the joint venture agreement?

If the Mercado administration is indeed serious in its pledge to put the welfare of San Pedronians first in its goal of becoming “Una sa Laguna,” this is the best step it could make to free San Pedronians from this real-life horror story.