March 2010 - The bidding and awarding of bulk water project to Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc., (RVWC) in December 2004 declared by Commission on Audit (COA) to be tainted with fraud and other irregularities. RVWCI was awarded the 25-year contract to undertake Bulk Water Supply Project (BWSP) of COWD (Cagayan de Oro Water District). RVWCI has committed to produce at least 50,000 m3/day by the end of 2006, and double and triple that capacity by the end of 2010 and 2015, respectively. Under the contract, RVWCI will build, operate, and own infrastructure facilities that will produce WHO- and Philippine-grade potable water via the abstraction and treatment of water from Bubunawan River. Fears had been raised in May 2006 that Rio Verde was using carcinogenic asbestos pipes. RVDC's entry in Pualas, Bukidnon, a known enclave of Indigenous Peoples (IPs), has been marred by controversy amid allegations that the company did not secure permits from the IPs. The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has approved a P500 million loan to Rio Verde Water Consortium, Inc. (RVWCI) to partially finance the project. Rio Verde is majority owned by the Rio Verde Water Corp. and US Water LLC.
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COWD claims firm's water pipes clean
[04 May 2006, http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/cag/2006/05/04/news/cowd.claims.firm.s.water.pipes.clean.html]
THE Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) said the pipes used by its private constructor are clean and safe for public health, saying its water conduits have passed international standards. Fears that Rio Verde Development Corp. (RVDC) was using carcinogenic asbestos pipes emerged after Councilor Alvin Calingin reported the matter in the City Council last week. But Engineer Gaspar Gonzales, COWD general manager told councilors during the City Council regular session Wednesday that RVDC uses spiral wielded steel, not the asbestos types as reported. "We only use internationally-accepted pipes and we assure the public that all materials upon which we channel our water do not contain harmful or poisonous materials. RVDC is the firm awarded with the multi-million-peso contract to build a water treatment facility and supply water to Cagayan de Oro via pipes from its plant in Pualas, Bukidnon. Its pipe-laying project is expected to conclude at the last quarter of this year, while its plant may start supplying water to COWD in early 2007, COWD officials projected. Asbestos has been known to cause lung cancer or asbestosis, Mesothelioma or cancer of the pleural lining, among others, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States said in its website. RVDC's entry in Pualas, Bukidnon, a known enclave of Indigenous Peoples (IPs), has been marred by controversy amid allegations that the company did not secure permits from the IPs. The Higaonon tribe claims the site as their ancestral land. A land dispute case is reportedly on-going in a regional court here after some tribal leaders accused RVDC of allegedly failing to get Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from the IPs in the area before it started constructing the water treatment plant two years ago. The FPIC is mandated under the Indigenous People's Act.
DBP approves P500M loan to RVWC for its 25-year bulkwater supply project
[19 June 2006, http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/cag/2006/06/19/bus/dbp.grants.p500m.loan.for.water.project.in.oro.html]
Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has approved a P500 million loan to Rio Verde Water Consortium, Inc. (RVWCI) to partially finance phase 1 of the bulk water supply project for Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD). RVWCI was awarded the 25-year contract to undertake COWD's Bulk Water Supply Project (BWSP) last December 2004. Under the contract, RVWCI will build, operate, and own infrastructure facilities that will produce WHO - and Philippine-grade potable water via the abstraction and treatment of water from Bubunawan River.
RVWCI has committed to produce at least 50,000 m3/day by the end of 2006, and double and triple that capacity by the end of 2010 and 2015, respectively. The BWSP will address two things: (1) It will provide reliable and sustainable supply of potable water to COWD's service area; and, (2) It will prevent the draining and destruction of Cagayan de Oro City's aquifer due to continuous pumping of deep wells. A more reliable and sustainable supply of water means more service connections. It will also create favorable conditions for development of new commercial activities and job opportunities. COWD's current water supply comes from groundwater sources, primarily deep wells. Ground water depletion is a sad reality in many parts of the country, particularly in Metro Manila, and Metro Cebu. This is a serious problem because continuous pumping not only drains the aquifer but also creates a vacuum that allows brackish or salt water to seep in from the sea and causes sinking of the ground above these empty aquifers. The damage to the aquifer caused by saltwater intrusion is almost irreversible, and would take several centuries to flush out salt and refill the aquifer with freshwater. On the other hand, the "sinking" of the ground results to higher levels of flooding during the rainy season. With the BWSP, COWD's dependence on water from deep wells will be minimized, at most completely eliminated. Rio Verde is majority owned by the Rio Verde Water Corp. and US Water LLC. (Press release)
Leftists want water supply project cancelled
[03 Mar 2010, http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/leftists-want-water-supply-project-cancelled]
PROGRESSIVE groups called on the Board of Directors of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (Cowd) Tuesday to cancel the anomalous Bulk Water Supply Project (BWSP). AnakPawis and transport group Starex-Piston also accused the board and City Hall of abandoning “their responsibility” by turning over “a significant component of the water district to the control of a private corporation.” The two groups on Tuesday joined the Cowd employee union in their noon break picket outside the water utility’s headquarters at Corrales Street.
Wildon Barros, regional coordinator of AnakPawis, described the two-week protest of the First Labor Organization of Cowd (Flow) as “valid and legitimate,” noting that union members simply want “transparency” in the workings of its board -- especially on the bulk water project.
Flow’s major grievance centers on the bulk water project with Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc., whose bidding and subsequent awarding and signing of contract in 2004 was declared by state auditors to be tainted with fraud and other irregularities.
Union officials have accused the board, headed by former radioman Joel Baldelovar, of pushing for the amendment of the BWSP contract instead of moving for its cancellation, as the Commission on Audit (COA) has required. In a fraud report late last year, COA also disallowed the payments to RVWCI amounting to some P144 million as of 2008. Baldelovar earlier argued that the present board had nothing to do with the BWSP contract. Except for Sandy Bas Sr., Baldelovar and five other members of the board have no involvement in the bulk water project.
Nevertheless, Flow President Antonio Young said the insistence of the present board to move for amendment rather than cancellation of the questioned contract was suspect. The discrepancies between the model contract and the signed contract, said Young, would adversely affect the cost of water in the future, pointing out COA’s findings that the final contract contained onerous provisions.
COA said discrepancies were apparently aimed at giving due advantage to RVWCI. It also found out that the board then had “consistently” awarded the project to RVWCI even if the company was repeatedly discovered to be unqualified to participate in the bidding. None of RVWCI's representatives were available for comment Tuesday.