Sunday, November 23, 2008

Water Privatization in CDO

Have you ever heard of water privatization? It is the takeover of water services by private businesses. Like for example, in this city we have the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) and it's sort of owned by the local government. Privatization will happen if private businessmen take over or buy the water district. When that happens, the local government will have no control on the price of water--that is the bad side. (One example is Manila: half of the customers pay the Ayalas for their water, the other half to another company)

To be honest, I am against water privatization. I believe that water resources are owned by all and that businessmen should not be profiting from it, especially that water is a basic need. But a lot of water districts and providers are pressured to privatize because they don't have enough budget to expand. But just so you know (I got this from a friend of mine whose work is to monitor the water privatization in the Philippines) CDO has one of the highest water bills in the Philippines because half of the water that goes through the pipes are spilled through leaks and the spilled water is still being paid for. So the price we are paying is actually twice the actual cost of water we are consuming.

CDO local government is thinking of selling the water district because our local budget is not enough to fix the pipes, and Jaraula does not want to spend money on the water district anymore. And as of September 30, 2008, there is an interesting development regarding COWD. Because the local government is having problems on dealing with it, the First Community Cooperative (FICCO) offered to buy it. (Yes, they have enough money to buy it. Hello? Millionaire!) And this is good news for me and for the people of CDO. Instead of privatizing, what they're actually doing is to "cooperative-ize". And a cooperative is very different from a private corporation because the owners and members of the cooperative themselves are the ones who support--which means money goes to everyone, whereas corporations work in such a way that the money goes to a select few. If most Kagayanons are members of FICCO, that means water district will be owned by the people of CDO. Quite surely, prices will be reasonable since the ones who will decide on the price will be the same people paying. For further knowledge of the subject, click this. (Yet again, I googled it. Haha) Sideline: And FICCO will be richer than ever. Mwahahaha! But that's not bad if FICCO is a genuine cooperative. Rich FICCO means rich everyone! Hahaha.

I hope FICCO pursues its intention to buy COWD and that FICCO is true to the ideals of water cooperatives and that it gets the water district. Cagayan de Oro could become a model to other cities. :)

So go spread the news! Ask if your parents are members of FICCO--in fact ask around if they're members--and educate them. Hehe. 'Cause my friends are looking out for their offer.

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