CITY Mayor Jane Yap, Chief of Staff Baba Yap, and Dr. Chris Rener Torralba led the blessing of the new office of the Tagbilaran City Waterworks (TCWS) located in the Agricultural Promotion Center (APC) inside the City Hall Compound. Acting City Administrator Cathelyn Torremocha, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Cities for Enhanced Governance and Engagement (CHANGE) Coordinator Dr. Rosalinda Paredes, and City Economic Enterprise Head Bebiano Inting also graced the occasion.
The Tagbilaran City Waterworks Office is open Mondays to Saturdays from 8:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the afternoon.
The City Government is continuously on the move to enhance the services of the TCWS. The strict implementation of the billing collection during the time of former City Mayor Baba Yap which mandated the unit to check all the existing accounts of its concessionaires and enforce the necessary penalties for delinquent accounts was an eye-opener and eventually rehabilitated the TCWS operations and accounting system. Economic Enterprises Head Bebiano Inting said the monthly collection of the TCWS started to increase since the initiative.
The technical assistance provided by USAID Surge Project under Water and Sanitation Specialist Engr. Evelyn Sagun also provided the much-needed boost to enhance the operations of TCWS. The twinning agreement with Maynilad Water Academy provided a comprehensive technical training to the TCWS personnel. The TCWS engaged in intensive data-gathering thru installation of pressure gauges, customer census, and 24/7 monitoring of concessionaire consumption. The ring-fencing and business planning workshops conducted by USAID Surge also improved the TCWS billing and collection system.
The Maynilad Water Academy also conducted capacity building hydraulic modelling. In fact, TCWS with the Maynilad team piloted one barangay and installed a system which improved the water distribution network of TCWS. Mayor Jane Yap is committed to intensify the services of TCWS thru digitalization. Plans are already on the drawing board to make these initiatives possible. (Jeanette Busano)
