The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) continues to ramp up efforts to speed up the completion of water development and rehabilitation projects in areas devastated by both natural and man-made disasters.
According to LWUA officer-in-charge Eileen Dela Vega, the agency continuously coordinates with the local government units, water districts and affected residents in Typhoon Yolanda-hit areas, as well as those ravaged during the siege of Zamboanga City in 2013 and Marawi City in 2017.
“Works on these projects have not stopped as LWUA has been in constant communication with the intended beneficiaries to expedite project procurement, implementation, and liquidation and utilization of remaining funds,” Dela Vega said.
However, she said, the last two years had been more challenging due to the physical restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which slowed down the work pace.
For Yolanda rehabilitation, Dela Vega said a P371-million project under the Tacloban City Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program (YCRRP) has been completed. Also, the implementation of the P660 million NHA-YPHP, while still ongoing, is fast –tracked through clustering scheme of project implementation.
Another P77-million project was essentially completed save for a few projects with ongoing project savings utilization.
In the case of the P575-million Zamboanga City Z3R Project, LWUA acting deputy administrator for engineering service Jocelyn Guce said start-up delays were caused initially by multiple failures of bidding and later on by sites of wastewater treatment plants that prevented further construction as local government units were yet to find appropriate relocation sites.
For Marawi, the experienced delays were also attributed to multiple failures of bidding aside from issues on project sites acquisition.
“We are now reviewing the process to hasten the procurement and re-bidding,” Guce said.
She added that LWUA had also instructed contractors to submit catch-up plans to avoid any further delays. In 2021, LWUA has completed forty water supply projects which would benefit more than 200,000 additional households – leading to a total of 5.24 million Filipinos nationwide enjoying clean, safe and affordable water.