In some high ground areas in Barangay Washington, particularly in the Capitol stretch, Pag-asa Hills and Silay Hills, residents were fuming on the lack of water supply which ran for over two weeks.
Also not spared from the water shortage was Barangay Taft, an urban barangay which has the biggest number in terms of population, where residents would berate SMWD personnel. Its most affected areas were Espina Village and the hilly portion of Talipapa.
In low-lying urban barangays such as Luna, Sabang, Rizal and San Juan - they suffered from a low water supply.
Joel Tudtud, a resident of Payawan I, Barangay Luna, said they have to wait for 11 o’clock in the evening before they could start filling in water on their containers because only at that time when water would start flowing from their faucet and would stop at around 5 or 6 in the morning.
To quench his thirst, a young boy gulps potable water from a locally-made water source in Poblacion, Claver town. Photo by: ROEL CATOTO“This is an endless problem of our city. Every year we face the same problem especially during the dry season,” Tudtod commented.
On the other hand, Laurice Congreso of Espina Village, Brgy. Taft, involuntarily found herself buying water at a costly price of ten pesos for every container with a capacity of 16 liters.
Her neighbors who ventured in fetching water from as far as Sitio Bioborjan in Brgy. Rizal, approximately 8 kilometers away from the city proper, found the same tedious and energy-sapping.
In a related development, City Mayor Nitoy Matugas and Governor Sol Matugas have demanded an explanation from the management of SMWD in connection with the water shortage which rocked the city populace.
The duo said they would call the attention of SMWD so it could immediately find a solution to ease out the problem.
City residents have noticed that during every heavy downpour of rain in the city, the SMWD would usually cease in providing potable water to the consuming public because the liquid accumulated in its reservoir would turn murky which could be dangerous to human health once consumed.
SMWD General Manager Benjamin Ensomo, Jr. recently urged the public to save water at night because on that period the pressure was definitely faster due to low usage as compared to day time. (Roel Catoto)
July 27, 2010 at 6:35 PM
Amo na ini, kay ang ijo tag priority ang jaon mga Gold mining, imbis tag protection ang ato watershed area.
Jaon watershed diha sa parangparang tag libotan nan mga goldmining company, uno man pag supply nan tubig kun dli ma expansion ang ato watershed?
Surigao City has one of the smallest watershed in Philippines, which is also ironic Surigao City is one of the rainiest areas in Southeast-Asia.
Ma inom nijo jaon gold?
August 4, 2010 at 6:26 AM
I hope that the present administration of claver can finish the water supply project started by the previous administration. That would be a big accomplishment that they can do for claver. Claver is a rich town we just need honest and dedicated leaders to implement all the projects needed for our town. It is now a trend for each town to outshine each other.And this is a good motivator .