BAGUIO CITY – Irate residents of Scout Barrio barangay lashed out at the management of the John Hay Waster Systems, Inc. (JHWSI), a subsidiary of the John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC), for its alleged inability to provide them with adequate water supply, especially when tourists flock to the city to spend their well-deserved break, that runs counter to their previous commitment for them to have sufficient water supply year-round.
Sources, who requested anonymity for personal reasons, alleged that whenever there is peak tourist arrivals in the city as what happened last December, Scout Barrio residents are deprived of their supposed allocation of water that force them to place their orders to water delivery companies servicing the said barangay.
Further, the sources also claimed that whenever they inquire from the company on the schedule of their water supply, they are often given alleged false promises on the arrival of their supply but only to keep them waiting for nothing.
While it is true that there are water delivery companies servicing their barangay, the sources pointed out that there is a minimum order of 10 drums before the same will be delivered to the interested residents but most of them are only maintaining around 2 to 5 drums that compels them to pay for the minimum order just for them to be provided with the supply.
According to them, the scarcity of water supply whenever the establishments in the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) and other accommodation establishments in the former American rest and recreation area are fully booked did not only happen once but it has been a usual problem for them when tourists flock to the city to spend their vacation.
The sources stipulated that the inability of the company to sustain its previous commitment to prioritize the Scout Barrio residents in the provision of potable water supply is a clear violation of such commitment that warrants the conduct of the needed investigation by concerned government regulatory agencies and the local government to ascertain whey are their customers being deprived of adequate water supply in favor of the tourists who temporarily live in the different accommodation establishments within the John Hay area.
Moreover, the sources asserted that the company’s failure to provide them with continuous water supply could be considered as a blatant violation of the 19 conditions imposed by the local government that paved the way for the State-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to develop the 247-hectare JHSEZ where it was imposed upon the developer that it must source its water supply outside the city and that the water supply for the residents living in the 14 barangays within the economic zone should not be affected.
Scout Barrio residents expressed hope that the scarcity of water supply for their homes will not be repeated once there will be influx of tourists who will be temporarily staying in the various accommodation establishments within the zone because it will be a testament that the JHWSI is not able to fulfill its mandate to provide them with adequate water supply year-round pursuant to the conditions imposed by the city for the overall development of the former American rest and recreation area.
