BUTUAN
CITY: Residents from this city and the province of Agusan del Norte are deficient
in water and electricity from the recent typhoon Seniang.
This
was observed since midnight when fire hydrants stopped giving off a single drop
of water when two fire incidents happened here and this morning.
The
evening fire burned supply room of the Agusan del Norte Provincial Hospital in Libertad
while an old house in Alviola village was razed this morning.
Angry
residents said the poor water supply was already experienced long before
Seniang, blaming officials at the Butuan City Water District (BCWD) for the ineptitude.
Anselmo
Sangtian, BCWD general manager, said in a statement to the media that typhoon Seniang
damaged their water source supply in Anticala.
Sangtian
says he seeks consideration from residents for such inconvenience, however, Councilor
Serge Pascual said something is fishy in the BCWD manager’s statement.
Pascual
said that based on records, the water district is chock-full of loans that
already reached P1-billion but for no factual reason, constantly explains about
malfunctioning water supply system.
Pascual,
it was learned, filed a mandamus case before the Supreme Court to stop the P500-million
water supply and treatment contract earlier entered into by BCWD with a private
firm.
Another
councilman, Ryan Anthony Culima, admitted water and electricity rates in the
city is so exorbitant, he feared some businessmen might transfer and invest in
other neighboring cities.
Agusan
del Norte Electric Cooperative (ANECO) chief of Operations Engr. Daniel Daylin likewise
told media more than 50 electric posts were felled by Seniang causing
widespread blackouts.
Daylin
added a third of the city and the province supplied by ANECO with total power
outage since yesterday and today.
It
is also the same in Surigao del Norte, said Gov. Sol Matugas, who claimed they’re
also experiencing blackouts.
As
of this morning, the CRDRRMC recorded a total of 12,288 families or 53,275
persons evacuated in 242 identified evacuation centers in the region
Almost
a thousand passengers and vehicles were reported stranded at Port of Lipata and
Surigao Baseport, it added. (WITH REPORTS FROM BEN SERRANO)