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CEBU CITY, Philippines - The Ayala Stateland consortium may lose its water permit to implement the Carmen Bulk Water project.
Meanwhile, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia confirmed that the Luyang River Water Permit in Carmen is one of the three pending water permit applications of the provincial government.
An official of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) said the board was planning to ?cancel? the permit it earlier granted to the consortium and were considering other applicants like the Cebu Provincial government to own the permit.
?Since the original intention (of the water permit) will not be met, we are going to cancel the permit granted to the Ayala consortium,? said Ramon Alicpala, the NWRB director general.
According to the Water Code of the Philippines, the NWRB grants water rights through a water permit to persons or entities.
A water right is the privilege given by the government to appropriate or use water.
The consortium was granted the water permit in 2003. But after almost five years, the consortium failed to implement the Carmen Bulk Water Project. The project would use the water from the Luyang River in Carmen town in northern Cebu.
Failed negotiations with the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) and the consortium on the financial terms of the bulk water supply deal had delayed the implementation of the project.
Alicpala said the NWRB is trying to iron out some concerns before proceeding to cancel the Ayala consortium permit.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the provincial government is interested in owning at least three water permits.
Garcia said the Capitol has three pending applications to extract water from a source in the different parts of the province - one in the south and two in the north.
She refused to say where the exact areas are for these permits but she said that application for the Luyang River water permit is one of these applications.
Garcia announced the pending applications after the signing of a memorandum of agreement that will allow the transfer of the water well operated by Panugnawan Waterworks Association from Daanbantayan town to Medellin town.
The water association extracts water from Malbago in Daanbantayan to service residents of barangays (villages) Panugnawan, Dalingding Sur, Curva and Caputatan Norte in Medellin. Alicpala attended the MOA signing.
?We are going beyond water distribution. This is complimentary to my belief that it is the Local Government Units that should distribute water in their localities,? she said.
An option is the possibility of engaging into a partnership with a private supplier, said Garcia.
The governor said that she was interested to also sit down with officials of the Ayala-Stateland consortium and NWRB to discuss a possible partnership.
Garcia said that the provincial government through the Provincial Water Board could serve as distribution arm of their chosen private sector partner in bringing water to the different towns and cities in the province.
?The province is the entity that will deal with the LGUs instead of the private sector (dealing directly with the LGUs). As experienced, it is very difficult for the private sector to deal with the LGUs (whose local officials are) with different temperaments,? she said.
Garcia said she wanted to take advantage of the unity of local officials in the implementation of the province's water project.
Alicpala said the provincial government is in the best position to own the Carmen bulk water permit.
But first the NWRB will have to cancel the Ayala consortium's permit before entertaining the province's third water application.
Alicpala also told Garcia that the Capitol's two other applications were already acted upon and permits would be released soon.
He said the Carmen water permit would be treated differently because the consortium refused to give up on their water permit.
Consortium lawyers are contesting the NWRB's decision. They claim to have other clients aside from MCWD.
But Alicpala said they have to show proof that these clients really want to buy water.
Alicpala said they will not be accepting any application for the Carmen bulk water supply permit unless they are able to revoke and dispose of the permit that was earlier granted to Ayala consortium.
Unless the permit granted to Ayala will be revoked ?beneficiaries in Cebu will not be able to benefit from the water.?
