By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Following repeated calls for the Bacolod City Water District (Baciwa) to explain their 25-year joint venture with the PrimeWater Infrastructure Corporation, Bacolod City Councilor Wilson Gamboa, Jr. is calling for the Baciwa Board of Directors to resign.
According to the city official, it is the board’s duty to draft policies to “protect the consumers and their employees.” He characterized the aforementioned joint venture as “arbitrary and illegal,” claiming, “The venture is not an option in order to solve the city’s water supply woes.”
“Resign, revamp; they are just mere appointees so they have no right to stay longer in Baciwa,” Gamboa added.
Last January, the city councilor called on Baciwa chairman, Atty. Lorendo Dilag, to explain the proposed joint venture.
In operation for over 30 years, PrimeWater provides services including water system development, bulk water supply, water supply improvement and rehabilitation, along with a sewage waste management program.
Gamboa’s motion characterized the utility firm as a “government-owned and controlled corporation,” which makes it “imbued with public interest.”
Later that month, the Diocese of Bacolod Social Action Center (SAC) also called for public hearings on the matter./DGB, WDJ