Will this be the start of the end of PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp.’s service (or rather, the lack of) to residents of Santa Cruz, Laguna?
This, as the local government unit of Santa Cruz initiated the first steps to force PrimeWater to either improve its services or else face the ultimate sanction: that of terminating its joint venture agreement with the Santa Cruz Water District (SCWD).
Show cause order
On September 11, Santa Cruz Mayor Benjo Agarao published on his personal social media account copies of the show cause letter the LGU has issued to PrimeWater.
The letter, dated September 10, gave PrimeWater 72 hours to give a reasonable explanation on why its business permit should not be suspended.
The reason: "acts and omissions detrimental to public welfare, particularly [PrimeWater's] failure to deliver clean, adequate, and reliable water service to the residents of the Municipality."
Mayor Agarao based his order on the "verified findings" of the SCWD, supported by field investigations and complaints filed by residents of affected barangays who were serviced (a laughable word for affected residents) by PrimeWater.
The findings, notably, mirror the same complaints fielded by PrimeWater customers not only in Laguna province but elsewhere.
These include prolonged and widespread water service interruptions; inadequate water pressure and water quality; public health and sanitation risks due to unreliable access to potable water; majority of the existing pumping stations not being maintained properly; and the abandonment of its water pump station in Barangay Santo Angel Central.
Withdrawal of JVA?
This move by Agarao is the latest in a string of actions taken by the local government of Santa Cruz to pressure PrimeWater to improve its services or else.
To recall, Agarao has pledged in an interview with OpinYon Laguna last July that his office will explore every legal avenue to terminate PrimeWater’s JVA with SCWD.
"Anim na taon na silang nandito, pero ni isa sa mga improvement na kailangan nilang gawin ay wala pa silang nagagawa," he explained during OpinYon Laguna's interview.
Agarao added that he found out that most of the staff of PrimeWater Santa Cruz were not even residents of the town in the first place, which he said great doubt on their ability to grasp the seriousness of the situation of its alleged poor service to its customers.
"Sabi ko nga po sa kanila, i-try po ninyong tumira dito, at tingnan po natin kung matutuwa po kayo sa serbisyo ng tubig na ibinibigay ninyo," he recounted.
Last June, former Mayor Edgar San Luis had also said the SCWD had issued a resolution paving the way for the termination of its JVA with PrimeWater, which started in 2019.
San Luis had published in his own social media page letters from SCWD officials to the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) and to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. himself, urging the national government to address PrimeWater's "poor" services.
“Ayon mismo sa SCWD, maraming obligasyon ang hindi natupad ng PrimeWater sa ilalim ng kasunduan—kabilang na ang hindi pa rin nasisimulang Surface Water Treatment Facility, na noon pa man ay ipinangako nilang solusyon sa ating krisis sa tubig,” San Luis pointed out in his Facebook post.
This move also mirrors the growing frustration and dissatisfaction among LGUs who have partnered with PrimeWater in Laguna province and elsewhere.
To recall, the San Pedro Water District (SPWD) last June formally issued a Notice of Termination against PrimeWater - a culmination of a ten-year struggle both by SPWD and the city government of San Pedro to force PrimeWater to shape up and put the interests of its consumers first.
As of press time, PrimeWater Santa Cruz has yet to issue a statement regarding the show cause order issued by the Santa Cruz LGU.
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