The Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water Inc. (COBI) on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to supply safe and reliable drinking water to the people of Cagayan de Oro City.
However, efforts to reach an amicable solution with Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) over outstanding payments and water pricing have been impeded by a lack of COWD representation.
A crucial meeting had been scheduled weeks ago with COWD involving representatives from the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), Metro Pacific Water (MPW), the Office of Rep. Lordan Suan and COBI was held on April 30th.
However, only one COWD director was present, preventing the meeting from reaching a quorum to provide a much-needed resolution to the outstanding balance of COWD to COBI.
This absence of representation from COWD raises concerns about its commitment to resolve the issue and compromises water supply for consumers.
LWUA already intervened to mediate and avoid service disruptions, especially during the El Nino season. The LWUA requested a 30-day extension to facilitate discussions between MPW and COWD. Unfortunately, despite multiple negotiation meetings, an agreement could not be reached.
The April 30 meeting was another lost opportunity to finally reach an amicable agreement because of the quorum absence of the COWD board of directors, in spite of the fact that there was a deadline set.
At this point, we are still open for an immediate and swift resolution of unsettled accounts. We encourage COWD to work with us to ensure a secure water supply for all Cagayanons.
