Not just lack of water – dirty water that is unsafe for drinking.
That appears to be PrimeWater Infrastructure Corporation’s “legacy” to the people of Santa Cruz, Laguna after six years of handling the town’s water supply.
Shortly after the Santa Cruz municipal government finally decided to suspend PrimeWater’s business permit last week, the Santa Cruz Water District (SCWD) found itself saddled with issues that PrimeWater left behind in its years of (non)service.
One of these issues involves the safety of the water it supplied to residents of Santa Cruz, where it was found that the town’s water supply was unsafe for consumption due to high levels of coliform bacteria.
Hazardous levels
In a report by the Santa Cruz Water District (SCWD), which has taken back the operations once handled by PrimeWater Santa Cruz, four out of its 10 pumping stations were found to have high levels of coliform, a bacteria that can lead to diarrhea and stomachache.
A later test conducted last October 7 revealed that testing in five other pumping stations in Santa Cruz also showed high levels of coliform, while the four pumping stations that were closed earlier passed testing.
As reported by Mayor Benjo Agarao during the special session of the Sangguniang Bayan last October 8 which paved the way for the declaration of the State of Water Emergency, coliform levels in these pumping stations exceeded the safe standards set by the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water (PNSDW).
"Ang normal po na level na coliform [ayon sa PNSDW] ay 1.1, pero ang lumabas po sa resulta ng testing ay 8, so hindi po maganda ang kalidad ng tubig at ito po ay hazardous sa kalusugan ng ating mga mamamayan," Agarao explained.
This prompted the SCWD to immediately shut down the pumping stations to ensure the safety of its residents.
Immediate measures
The declaration of a "State of Water Emergency," Mayor Agarao said, enables the SCWD to immediately implement measures to ensure that the town's water supply is safe from bacteria.
The measure also enabled the municipal government to procure assistance from the provincial government, as well as from nearby towns, in the form of providing water tanks to affected residents.
Laguna Water also sent three water trucks to Santa Cruz to supply potable water to residents.
Agarao also took the opportunity to apologize to residents who had complained that they were not given time to stock up on their water reserves before the operations of the four affected pumping stations were suspended.
Kung inipon po nila yung tubig ay malamang po na contaminated rin po iyon,” he stressed.
Takeover
The discovery of contaminated water followed the takeover of the SCWD of the water operations once handled by PrimeWater Santa Cruz.
The takeover was borne out of Executive Order No. 40 that was issued by Mayor Agarao last October 2, in which the local government suspended the business permit of PrimeWater Santa Cruz.
According to the executive order, the suspension of PrimeWater's business operations was due to "numerous complaints from residents...including inadequate water supply, unsafe and non-potable water, and water discoloration which pose risks to public health, sanitation, and general welfare."
The Santa Cruz LGU was also dissatisfied with PrimeWater's reply to its Show Cause Order issued September 10, in which the water utility was ordered to explain why its business permit should not be suspended or revoked.
Tensions
Immediately after the order was released, tensions flared inside the SCWD’s compound in Barangay Patimbao after two men who claimed to be PrimeWater employees padlocked the compound.
Several employees of SCWD were allegedly trapped inside the compound for several hours before negotiations between the families of the two sides finally defused the situation.
In a statement, SCWD condemned the alleged “illegal detention” of its employees.
It also reiterated that its takeover of PrimeWater’s operations is not contrary to the joint venture agreement (JVA) it entered with PrimeWater back in 2019, as it is only following the provisions of Executive Order No. 40.
"Ginagampanan lamang po ng SCWD ang tungkulin nito bilang public office upang hindi maapektuhan ang ating mga kababayan sa suspensyon ng business permit ng PrimeWater," the SCWD said in its social media page.
As of press time, OpinYon Laguna has yet to receive a reply from officials of PrimeWater Santa Cruz regarding this issue.
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