By Ivy Tejano
DAVAO CITY – The Davao City Council urged the Apo Agua and the Davao City Water District (DCWD) on Tuesday, April 16, to finish repairing the roads affected by the bulk water project by the end of this month.
Councilor Bonz A. Militar pointed out that the two agencies may have been dishonest about the progress of road repairs and upgrades following the declaration of the Apo Agua on February 13, 2024 session.
According to the Apo Agua, the agency is 99 percent complete in its restoration works. However, the councilor said two months had passed, yet the agency is still at 99 percent in their road project.
Militar said it appears the Council has received misleading reassurances regarding the dedication of the mentioned agencies.
“It is not very proper because if you are going to come here to the council, your data should be very accurate,” Militar said, adding that if there are delays, the agencies should be transparent and reasonable.
Militar emphasized that Apo Agua had asked for more time, and everyone in Davao City knew what they had promised. He said that when it comes to road projects, people blame the city government for delays, not the agencies.
“We have been very understanding and patient with their delays from the start of the operations until now, as well as their remaining commitment to the city. However, we cannot just let the Dabawenyos suffer inconvenience due to their unfinished road repairs,” he said.
Militar said the Apo Agua and the DCWD must shape up and deliver what they have promised to the people.
The councilor said the city council hopes that by the next session, Apo Agua will be present to explain the reasons for extending the repairs.
Militar sought the approval of the resolution, which the body passed, demanding Apo Agua Infrastructura and DCWD to complete all the repair and restoration works for all roads affected by the bulk water project by April 30, 2024.
Jovana Cresta Duhaylungsod, a representative from the DCWD, said the water district is currently engaged in projects involving excavation, for which they have implemented early warning systems.
Duhaylungsod said these excavations were necessary for mainline expansion and improvement to increase service coverage, water distribution efficiency, and pipeline leak repairs to reduce water losses and declogging activities.
She added that the timeline for the restoration projects that require excavation activities is May to September, and some of these cannot be temporarily restored, but they place excavation warning devices.
Duhaylungsod said the DCWD is committed to reducing the inconvenience caused by excavation activities.
“We have a team dedicated to daily monitoring of early warning devices across the city to ensure their integrity and promptly fix any damages. We also have daily reports with photos from our departments and our contractors sending the status of all early warning devices and open trenches and excavation activities,” she said.
She also said that they anticipate more repairs for leaks and unclogging in their mainline due to more bulk water supply. She added that they plan to increase excavation activities and outsource restoration work, especially on major roads, to speed up the tasks.
Duhaylungsod said that by May, they expect the delivery of more early warning devices and more updates on the road restoration under the bulk water project will be available by May 14, as the Council will invite the Apo Agua to relay project updates.
Vice Mayor J. Melchor V. Quitain said in a statement during the session that hopefully, by then, the Council will be able to receive news or updates on the road restoration.