Imee Marcos calls for ‘fast track construction of water flagship projects’
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2019 16:18:56 +0000
Ilocos Norte Gov. Maria Imleda Josefa “Imee” Marcos called on the government to hasten the construction of water flagship projects, including the Kaliwa and Laiban dams, and to make the water agency and two concessionaires accountable for the water shortage. “Mataas ang presyo ng tubig, pero maayos ba ang serbisyo? Kung hindi nila kaya, malamang may ibang magsisikap na magserbisyo sa publiko ng tama,” the Governor said, adding that the public deserves better service than what the two concessionaires have been rendering.
She also pointed out that the Kaliwa and Laiban dam projects which were started during the time of her father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, have been put in the back-burner in past administrations. “It has been too long since these were put on the government’s development agenda during the Marcos administration. Copping out of making the difficult decision to push through the construction of additional water sources like the Kaliwa and Laiban dams led us to where we are now — a looming massive scarcity of the most important survival resource of our people,” Marcos said.
The administration Senate bet noted that no less than the chief regulator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System attributes the water shortage to the failure to build alternative water sources that were proposed as early as the Marcos administration. The Laiban Dam and the smaller 600-million liters per day (MLD) Kaliwa Dam, which is projected to address Metro Manila’s water needs for the next 20 years, were shelved during the term of President Benigno Aquino 3rd.
“It is only the Duterte administration that has put in serious effort to push for our much-delayed and much-needed water projects,” she observed. Marcos expressed strong support to the Duterte administration’s efforts to revive the two dam projects and hope that dilatory obstacles be resolved immediately.
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