Councilor decries Baciwa’s P6.3-B joint venture

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. decried Friday the move of the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) to contract a P6.3-billion, 25-year Joint Venture Agreement with Prime Water Infrastructure.

Gamboa called the contract “onerous” because it is a total “takeover and handover” of BACIWA as Prime Water will not infuse additional capital.

Gamboa cited a July 18, 2020 PNA report stating that Baciwa has entered into a 25-year joint venture agreement with Prime Water.

The signing of the deal was announced by Baciwa Board of Directors chair Lorendo Dilag, and Prime Water vice president Romeo Sabater in a press conference at the O’Hotel here.

Gamboa added that the joint venture agreement with Prime Water is just plain and simple “privatization” of BACIWA “with Prime Water not having to bring additional water sources or supply nor infuse additional capital but have full use of all the facilities of Baciwa and water sources and they are now ‘impliedly the owner’ of Baciwa.”

He also said that the Baciwa privatization in the guise of a Joint Venture Agreement cannot be denied as Prime Water Vice President himself Romeo Sabater declared that once the notice to proceed is received, the project would begin on Nov 1, 2020 and they would already be in charge of the daily operation of Baciwa’s water supply system, “this means the water source, operation, maintenance, distribution, customer service, payment, and collection will be handled by Prime Water.”

It is quite predictable, Gamboa said, that the next move of Prime Water is to immediately avail of loans against BACIWA’S receivables, collections, income, good financial standing and track record (Triple-A water district) and pass on the cost to Bacolod’s water consumers which include the 12 percent Value Added Tax  (VAT) and all other charges,  taxes and fees (currency adjustment, consumer price index (CPI) power price index (PPI), financial charges and interest, loan amortizations and previous payments etc.) that would cover expansion and rehabilitation infrastructure lay-out, i.e., septage and others.

As of Oct 16, 2020, Gamboa said some consumers filed in court a petition for the declaratory relief and declaration of nullity of the joint venture agreement between Baciwa and Prime Water with Application for issuance of Temporary Restraining Order/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction.