ANGELES CITY – Executives of the Angeles City Water District (ACWD) are reportedly in a panic mode as more charges are being mulled against them as their proposal for a partnership with a private firm is now in limbo.
Councilor Jesus “Jay” Sangil said on Monday that the ACWD’s proposed joint venture agreement with a private firm suffered a setback after the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) “suspended” the utility firm’s request for a representative to act as one of the provisional non-voting members of the proposed joint venture agreement.
Sangil said the ACWD is “cramming” to privatize and engage in backdoor negotiation with its proposed partner allegedly to avoid the legal suit filed by the city government.
Councilors Sangil and Alfie Bonifacio earlier bared the reported privatization move of the ACWD in the wake of alleged irregularities hounding the water district.
This prompted Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr. to file a case before the Ombudsman against the ACWD officials.
“Since we started our inquiry at the city council on the issue of bulk water, installation of ultra violet (UV) rays, construction of septage plant and other alleged irregularities, some members of the board of directors and officials of ACWD began “back door” talks with a big water company for privatization or a joint venture,” Sangil and Bonifacio said.
“Reports have it that the officials of the water district even allowed the private water firm to make data logging activities in their pumping stations and allegedly giving away documents on a silver platter,” according to the two maverick councilors.
Sangil, chair of the council committee of public works/engineering and oversight, and Bonifacio, chair of public utilities, said the ACWD has kept on ignoring the sangguniang panlungsod’s repeated requests of financial report and business plan “pero sa big water firm na kanilang kinakausap para sa joint venture mabilis pa kay Flash Gordon ang pagbibigay ng mga dokumento!”
Meanwhile, text messages and telephone calls to ACWD general manager Reynaldo Liwanag for his side have remained unanswered.
