Mayor Maria Isabelle “Beng” Climaco-Salazar met with officials of the Zamboanga City Water District recently in a bid to discuss anew possible solutions to the water problems and the proposed water rates increase.
The Mayor, said she would be open to any possible solutions including the possibility of increasing water rates for as long as the ZCWD will allow scrutiny of its book of financial records.
“As mother of this city, I cannot allow our people to suffer water rates increase, not this time of the pandemic, believing that there are other solutions to the problem,” she said.
She said one possible solution is to make the non-revenue water an actual revenue, and such is the call for management to look into.
The mayor said she also wanted to look into the salary problems of the ZCWD following complaint that they have never yet received salary increase for a long time as management cited the need to increase water rates before it could increase the salaries and benefits of its employees.
“All of these,” according to the mayor, “would take us to scrutinize the book of the ZCWD to truly find out if indeed there is a need to increase the water rates.”
Recall, the chief executive had formally asked the Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD) to forgo its proposed water rates increase last year.
“We have to look into the books of the ZCWD and utilize existing funds from loans. Before we increase the rates, we have to provide better service to them, it’s just as simple as that, by looking at an area where to improve,” the mayor said at the press briefing.
She said she will be studying the possibility of asking the ZCWD to forgo the increases of rates, and look for other ways to address the firm’s funding need for development projects.
The mayor also shared the idea of digitalizing the ZCWD to solve the problem of non-revenue water due to leakages, citing for example the command center of the city government that allows the police to prevent a crime incident without necessarily posting a policeman at the crime scene.
“Utilizing digital technology will help us curve the system’s loss without necessarily increasing the cost of water,” the chief executive stressed.
For her part, Engr. Marli P. Acosta-De Fiesta, head of the ZCWD Engineering and Construction Department, told the press briefing that they respect the mayor’s stand on the issue, adding that the ZCWD management would want scheduling another meeting with the mayor to clarify matters pertaining to the rates increase.
“We see the opposition as an opportunity to further explain to the public the necessity of water rates adjustment,” she said. (City Hall Public Information Office)
